


The Coming Out Process

by SnitorisSnape



Category: Gravity Falls
Genre: (Not on Mabel's part of course), Aged-Up Character(s), Coming Out, Dipper Mabel and Pacifica are 16, F/F, Friendship, Humor, Miscommunication, Pigs, Pining, Summer Teen Drama Romance and Angst Fest, Touches of Internalized Homophboia
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-06-29
Updated: 2017-06-12
Packaged: 2018-04-06 17:38:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 38,348
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4230825
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SnitorisSnape/pseuds/SnitorisSnape
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Pansexual. “The attraction to people irrelevant to their gender identities.” Right under it was Panromantic. “The romantic attraction to a person irrelevant to their gender identity.” Suddenly it all made sense.</p><p>The first word explained her eyebrows raising at every cute person she saw. The second explained her heart quickening and her head spinning and her sweaty, oh so sweaty palms when Pacifica skyped her. When it was three in the morning and she was in her loose fitting pajama shirt. When her hair was a bit of a mess and she was laughing so hard at something Mabel said that cereal was coming out of her nose."</p><p>A story about self-discovery and coming out. Of crushes, piglets and summer love.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> This story was written before "A Tale of Two Stans"  
> There is no references to anything beyond s2e11, just a heads up.

Super Pansexual Mabel Pines

Mabel looked down at the suitcase. She nodded at the words and rubbed her thumb over the letters she had written with a green glittery pen, admiring the label she had taped to the bag. She had halted packing for her summer vacation to add the name tag to the suitcase. 

It was a new year. A new Mabel. A new Super Pansexual Mabel. And she was going to make the most of it. 

She loved boys. She had always known that. Those dreamy, perfect boys. Then puberty had hit her hard and her love for them hit her again like a ton of bricks. But over the past few years, she began to realize she had always had a lot of the same feelings for girls too. 

It wasn't until around 14 that she understood her passionate adoration she had for some of her friends and her desire to hold their hands wasn't really _a friendship thing._ And maybe her love of going bra shopping with Grenda had just as much to do with her liking seeing Grenda in the bras then it had to do with her being a good bestie.

She used to think maybe she wasn't as much of a straight shooting cupid's arrow as she thought. Maybe she was just a lesbian? But something felt wrong to her about that, because she still loved boys. Plus she got a sudden desire to laugh uncomfortably loud and twirl her hair whenever she saw an exceptionally good looking person. And gender didn't really seem to be a factor. 

Mabel had made the right choice bringing it up to Dipper. Well, not so much a choice as deciding to roll around on his bed and make distressed grunting noises and pained wails. Her twin brother believed no mystery couldn't be solved with the power of research, note-taking, and a solid investigation. And that's what he saw her confusion as. A mystery. A mystery she'd be happier solved. 

This led to her the of the world of queer literature. Her brother had checked out nearly every book in the library and printed out a few online articles but all she needed was to open the cover of the "Official LGBT Dictionary" and see a word that made perfect sense. Then suddenly her world made perfect sense. 

Pansexual. “The attraction to people irrelevant to their gender identities.” Right under it was Panromantic. “The romantic attraction to a person irrelevant to their gender identity.” Suddenly it all made sense. 

The first word explained her eyebrows raising at every cute person she saw. The second explained her heart quickening and her head spinning and her sweaty, oh so sweaty palms when Pacifica skyped her. When it was three in the morning and she was in her loose fitting pajama shirt. When hair was a bit of a mess she was laughing so hard at something Mabel said cereal was coming out of her nose. 

With her new word and new understanding, she dove right in to the books. Reading them long after her brother fell asleep right on top of the pile. Learning about queer history, and movements and theories. She read until the sun came up and rose high in the sky. 

Mabel knew exactly who she was now. She was pansexual and panromantic. She was 16 years old and she loved badly dubbed 80s anime and turtles in funny hats. And she was going to do her best to help gays, and she was going to have a blast _being_ hella gay. 

She was lucky her brother was such a giant nerd.


	2. The Return

"I am so excited!" Mabel cried, bouncing up and down on the stiff bus seats.

It was about nine at night and the sunset had ended awhile ago, leaving only the slightest trace of light outside to remind everyone day had come and past. The twins we're stationed at the very back of the bus, enjoying the row of five seats they had to themselves. 

The bus was almost entirely empty. Just the driver and a handful of scattered passengers upfront. Most people we're sleeping, a few reading books by the small light above their seats. 

"Well, you've only said that about a hundred times." Dipper responded, his eyes still on the open journal in his lap. "And screamed it about seven." 

"Dippppeerrr." She groaned. She bounced again, this time with a little less enthusiasm. "Don't kill the bounce queen." 

"Maybe it would be easier for me to read without the, uh- "Bounce Queen" shaking the seats." Dipper told her. 

Mabel sprang up, then down a few more times. Each time more softly until she cried "You've killed her! The Bounce Queen is _dead_!" She gave one last spring upwards before flopping on top of his lap, hands clutched over her heart and wailing her final wail. 

Dipper scoffed, pushing her head off the open book. “Come one, you’re getting hair all over the journal.” 

Mabel rolled over, back onto her own seat. “Come on, aren’t you excited?” She asked with a lopsided smile. 

“Yeah, I am.” He turned his page. “It’s been a year, after all.” 

Mabel sighed happily, looking out the window. The cold air conditioning of the bus was making the air around the window condensate. She leaned over to draw swirls against the glass. “It’s been a year since I’ve seen Waddles!” She exclaimed. 

Dipper smiled. “And you know, our Grunkle. Plus Soos, and Pacifica and Wendy and all our _human_ friends.” 

“Well I miss them too, but they can write letters and send Skype messages. A pig can’t do that.” She added a few more spirals. That was the sun. She began outlining fluffy clouds below. 

“Surprised you didn’t try.” Dipper said absent mindedly. He raised his eyebrows at a passage and circled it with his pen. “Okay, we definitely need check this one out.” 

“Oh I did try.” Mabel informed. She leaned over to look at the drawing he was pointing at. “I guess pigs can’t use pens or operate computers… Oh! Yeah that guy looks pretty fun!” 

Her twin brother rolled his eyes. He knew his sister too well to correct her that no, that guy did _not_ look pretty fun. He looked like some sort of rhinoceros boar monster that could apparently disguise itself and feed off people’s brains. 

“How much longer until we’re in Gravity Falls?” Dipper asked her. She smiled at the window, turning to rummage in her jean pockets for the Speedy Beaver’s bus schedule. 

She looked at the time or arrivals and grinned. “That depends. How many times does uh… an hour fit in 2 years and 4 months?” 

Dipper shot her a confused glance. “Uh…” he marked his page and closed the book. He tapped his fingers over the hard cover and muttered under his breath. “Thousand… by...” He was used to people always springing random math problems on him. Ever since he one the gold for regionals in mathletes. He was getting faster too. Dipper pulled out his phone and pulled up the calculator app. “Ha! I was right. 21038 hours.” 

Mabel grinned. “Okay. Then we’ll be there in 1/21038th of your gothic phase.” 

Dipper rolled his eyes. “Ohmygod, I can’t believe I fell for that again. Mabel, would just saying ‘in an hour’ really be that hard?” 

She chuckled, but it was short lived. She glanced out the window The bus began to turn down off the main highway. It was completely dark now, but she could make out the beginning of the roadside forest. “In just an hour…” she mumbled. The condensation ran down the windows like rain, turning her fluffy clouds into droopy dripping ones. 

Dipper frowned. He looked down awkwardly at the journal in his hands for a moment, before placing it on the seat across from him and scooting towards his sister. He placed his hand on her shoulder. “You don’t have to tell him tonight.” 

She shook her head. “I know, I just don’t think I can’t _not_ tell him right away. That way I can take the first bus back… if I need to.” She bowed her head and her hair fell into her eyes. 

“C’mon Mabel, it’s gonna be okay.” He tried to reassure her. 

She exhaled sadly. ‘I don’t know, Dipper! Grunkle Stan is like a bajillion years old.” 

“But- I mean, he’s also been banned from every church in Gravity Falls for stealing their crackers.” Dipper reminded her. “He doesn’t seem like the kind of person to care about your sexuality.” 

She smiled, a little uncertain. “You’re probably right.” 

“Well hey, I’m the smart one after all.” 

She punched him in the arm. 

# 

“Now Arriving at Gravity Falls Bus Station,” The crackly old speakers on the bus announced. The bus began to slow down as it pulled into the stop. 

“This is it! This it!” Mabel shrieked, shooting straight up. She reached for her suitcase when the bus jolted back as it came to a complete stop. Laughing, the force sent her toppling back onto her seat again. 

“Calm down you nut.” Dipper said, but he was laughing too. He stood up, slinging his duffel bag over his shoulder. 

Mabel ran down the aisle, her suitcase swinging and bumping against each seat and people’s shoulders. Dipper followed after, at a less hazardous pace and apologizing to the passengers who were looking disgruntled and rubbing their shoulder. 

Just a few rows from the front she could see an old man and a large handy man waiting on the ground. Her smile broke out even wider and she began to run, her suitcase slamming against her side as the momentum swung it even faster. 

“Grunkle Stan!” She cried, grabbing the railing as she ran down the steps. “Soos!” She ran down the sidewalk and flung herself into her Great Uncle’s arms. Dipper nodded to the bus driver before following her down the steps as well. 

“Woah! Are you trying to break your Grunkle’s back?” He asked, but wrapped his arms around her too. She squeezed him so hard she heard something crack. 

“Let’s have a look at you.” He said when they parted. He stepped back and looked over his Grand Niece. She was just about his height, if not the teeniest bit taller. “When did you get so big?” He asked. 

Mabel grinned. “I think you just got shorter.” He laughed before turning to Dipper. 

“Dipper!” He exclaimed. “You’re not wearing all that girly makeup anymore!” He wrapped an arm around his shoulders. 

Dipper rolled his eyes. “I’m happy to see you too, Grunkle Stan.” 

“And Soos is here!” Mabel shrieked excitedly, rushing to embrace him. 

“Yeah, dudes!” He noogied her. “Wouldn’t miss my two best bud’s homecoming!” 

“He insisted. Couldn’t get rid of him.” Stan grumbled. 

A few more minutes of hugs and hellos and comments on how much everyone had or hadn’t changed before they were loading up the “Stanmobile.” Stan dangerously driving with his cataracts at night, Soos sitting shotgun but twisting himself uncomfortably around to face the twins. They were both sort of in the middle seat, sandwiched between their bags. 

It was a short drive from the bus stop to the Mystery Shack. Grunkle Stan asked about school, and Dipper told him about his grades and winning the science fair and about mathletes. Dipper assured him it was not lame several times, which Grunkle Stan believed none of the times. Mabel talked about how she got the lead role in Avenue Q, which she also directed and re-wrote to be more highschool-friendly. Then she talked about the revolution she incited when the staff told her making the entire cast puppets (rather than only half) didn’t make the play more appropriate. 

Grunkle Stan and Soos filled them in on what was going on in the town, and how things were at the Mystery Shack. It was a small town, and time seemed to stand still. Nothing major had changed. But Wendy was back, visiting from her first year of college. A raccoon had gotten trapped in the Stanmobile’s engine, Toby Determined had finally officially lost it. Little stories of happenings here and there. 

It was no time at all before they were pulling up in the parking lot of the Mystery Shack. The second the car came to a complete stop Mabel was swinging the door open with a great sense of urgency. “Waddles!” She cried. 

The others had just stepped out of the car by the time she had made it to the front door, swinging it open because no one ever locked anything around here. She knew the house well enough to navigate in the dark, nearly slipping on the hard wood floor as she bee lined for the living room and switched on the lights. 

There he was, curled up on the little pillow by Stan’s favorite arm chair. His little snout tucked beneath his paws and his pink freckle-like marks under his eyes and dark colored tail and- 

_That’s not Waddles._

**_THAT’S NOT WADDLES_ **

“That’s not Waddles!” Mabel screamed. 

The little pig raised its snout and snorted softly at her. Mabel dropped to her knees, leaning down to get a better look at the little impostor. It snorted at her again. She narrowed her eyes, staring deeply into its beady little black ones. 

The sound of the others entering the room made her straighten back up, turning to Grunkle Stan where he was taking off his jacket and fez. 

“What is this?!” She demanded. “Where is Waddles?!” 

“Who?” He asked. 

“WHO IS THIS?!” Mabel declared again, gesturing wildly to the little critter. “Did you think I wouldn’t notice this ISN’T WADDLES?!” 

“Waddles?” Stan questioned again. He hung up his garments on the wrack. “Waddles… Waddles…” he snapped his fingers. “Oh! The fat little nuisance? He’s upstairs.” 

She eyed him suspiciously before turning away. She made her way up the stairs to the attic where her home away from home’s bedroom was. The door creaked open to reveal the lamp was already on, lighting up the room. It was dusty as expected, and empty except for the beds. New sheets had been placed on them and blankets were folded up at their foot. 

That wasn’t the only thing at the end of the bed though. A large pink pig all curled up, with two piglets cuddled up next to him. 

Tears began to sting at the corners of her eyes. “Waddles!” She cried out shakily, rushing to her pig. 

Instantly he perked up like a prairie dog, turning to face her with a surprised grunt. 

“Waddles, my sweet Waddles!” She threw her arms around him and he put his front hooves up on shoulder. She could feel his heart beating happily against hers. She could feel the planets aligning and the stars exploding and hear a baby kitten’s first laugh echoing throughout her soul. 

Mabel pulled away, wiping the tears from her eyes. “You have piglets!” She laughed. “I can’t believe this!” 

The door creaked open, and Mabel looked over to see Soos walking into the room. He had the first little piglet she had seen being held in his arms. 

“Totally forgot to tell you about these guys, sorry May-dawg.” He nervously chuckled, placing the baby animal next to the other two. “I’m going back downstairs.” He told her. “Stan wants me to order pizza.” 

A minute after Soos left, Dipper walked into the room, panting. He was holding both her bag as well as his, doubled over by the weight. He made his way to his bed and flopped down. ‘I brought your bag up too, since you ran off.” Dipper grumbled. “You’re welcome.” 

“SSH! No one cares!” Mabel held up a finger to her lips. “ _LOOK AT THE PIGLETS!_ ” 

“Piglets?” He took his hat off and began fanning his sweaty face with it. 

“PIGLETS!” She cried, flopping down onto the bed. 

With a confused expression he walked over to the other side of the room, gasping when he saw the three little piglets snuggled on the blankets. “No way!” He laughed, sitting beside them. The darkest of the three, a solid black one, crawled up on to his lap to investigate the new person. 

“I guess Waddles was really a girl pig this whole time?” Dipper asked. The pig stood on it’s hind legs to lick at his chin. 

“No way, Waddles is the manliest pig around.” Mabel retorted, scratching him behind the ears. “He’s just a trans-pig. He’s queer, like me!” 

Dipper rolled his eyes. “I don’t think pigs can be transgendered, Mabel.” 

“Ssshh, he’s like me, Dipper.” She wrapped her arms around her soulmate, eyes wide and starry. “Like meeee.” She whispered to the pig. 

# 

It was about midnight and they were all downstairs in the living room. Grunkle Stan on his chair, Soos and Dipper on the new (used, old, beaten up, and found at the Gravity Falls recycling heap for only 13$) sofa, and Mabel sitting criss-crossed on the shaggy carpet. Waddles and the freckled piglet were both snuggled up beside her. The other two were in between Soos and Dipper on the sofa. 

She had just taken a poorly timed bite of pizza as Why You Ackin’ So Cray Cray went on commercial break, the last clip of the show causing her to snort cheese with laughter. Dipper had it worse, taking a sip of Pitt Cola that was currently spraying out of his nose. 

Once she could breathe again, giggles still in her voice she said “I can’t believe you guys both forgot to tell me about the piglets!” 

“It was gonna be a surprise.” Soos told her, “But then I kinda forgot about it.” 

“Did you name them already?” Dipper asked. 

“Yeah.” Grunkle Stan answered. “Screamy, Scratchy, Smelly and Benjamin Franklin.” 

Mabel put her hands on her hips. “Those are horrible names!” She chastised. “And did you re-name my Waddles?” 

Grunkle Stan took a sip of his drink and shrugged. 

Mabel scooped up the freckled piglet. “Don’t worry, I won’t let you have such a _horrible_ name.” She shot her Grunkle a disapproving glance before she smiled at the little pig. 

“I dunno.” Dipper pet the little black pig. “Benjamin Franklin is kinda cool.” 

“Smelly isn’t!” She cried. The little piglet snorted at her. She squinted, making a thoughtful expression. Freckles…pigs….freckled…oink. She got it! 

“Peggy Freckles!” She cried. 

“I love it!” Soos cheered. “Ah, dude! Can I name one?” 

“As long as it’s not ‘Smelly’.” Mabel said with a smile, kunik-kissing Peggy Freckles. 

Soos looked down the pig in his lap, a yellowish one with black spots. “Hmm… Oh! How about Soos Jr?” The piglet oinked. “He likes it!” 

The commercial break ended and the next episode started, the up-beat techno remix of various cray-cray ackin’ people filled up the living room. Mabel’s smile slowly fell off her face as she looked at the clock. She wanted to tell him tonight, and it just kept getting later and later. 

# 

It was well after midnight. She wasn’t sure if it was one in the morning yet. She was feeling anxious and tired. Usually they stayed up late watching stupid tv, but Mabel and Dipper had been up since early in the morning. She was fidgeting and kept trying to think of an opportunity to bring it up. Her eyes were hardly on the show, and she was the only one not laughing hysterically every time that one crazy lady with the horses came on screen. 

After the end of the yet another episode Grunkle Stan stood up. He looked down at his watch. “Hey, it’s getting late. Aren’t you tired?” 

Dipper looked at Mabel and she felt her stomach flip. “Mmm… N-no.” She hesitated, sounding very unconvincing. And he didn’t look convinced at all, shooting her a confused and kind of suspicious glance. 

“If you say so.” He looked at the sofa. “And Soos, shouldn’t you be heading home?” He asked. 

Soos was laughing at some commercial. When it was over he turned to Stan. ‘What did you say, Boss?” 

Grunkle Stan shook his head. “Nevermind. I’m going to go make some popcorn.” He walked off towards the kitchen. 

Mabel took a deep breath. She gently picked up a sleeping Peggy Freckles and removed her from her lap. She carefully stood up, steeling herself. 

“Dipper, and, uh… Soos. Could you guys come into the kitchen with me?” She asked nervously, pushing her hair behind her ear. 

“Huh?” Dipper yawned, still looking at the television. “Why d-“ He looked at her and saw just how anxious her expression was. “Oh.” He straightened up. “Oh! Yeah, yeah!” 

She nodded, trying to smile but felt a little too much like throwing up. Instead she just followed her great uncle to where he was in the small kitchen. He was standing at the stove, an oven mitt in one hand as he shook the frying pan filled with olive oil and corn kernels. 

“Hey, Grunkle Stan.” She said softly. 

“Huh?” He turned to his grand niece. “It’s not done yet.” 

“I know.” She looked at Dipper walking in behind her. He smiled reassuringly and squeezed her shoulder as he walked past her, before he sat down on the counter. Soos looked confused but was still smiling like he always was. He sat down on the chair next to the table where they always ate breakfast. 

“What’s this about?” Grunkle Stan questioned, his eyebrows raising. 

Mabel’s eyes searched around, finding everyone hard to look at. “Well, I have something to tell you.” She told the floor. 

“Yeah?” He asked. 

Mabel smacked her lips. “Yep. So…” She looked at the ceiling. “Soooo….” Back at the floor. “Soooooooo…..” 

_Just say what you practiced,_ she thought. _You’ve been thinking about this day for months now!_ She opened her mouth to speak. Then she burst out laughing. 

Grunkle Stan looked really confused now, turning to Dipper and Soos for an answer. Soos shrugged and Dipper was just staring at his sister in concern. 

Mabel’s laughter stopped as abruptly as it started. Everyone was staring at her. The kitchen was dead quiet, and spinning too. Her palms started to feel sweaty again. 

“Pansexuality!” She burst out. Now Grunkle Stan looked even more confused. “What a good question!” She tugged on her sweater’s collar. It was so hot in here. When did it get so hot? Why was she even wearing a sweater?! “What could it be?! Who knows!” Her words weren’t making any sense and her own volume was making her wince. 

“I don’t… I don’t- ” Her great uncle was giving her a deeply concerned look. “Are you feeling okay, Mabel?” 

“I know!” She exclaimed. “It’s me! Panromantic too!” 

Stan looked down at the frying pan in his hand, then looked back at her. “Would… you like this pan? Is that what you’re trying to say?” 

“No, uh- Pan means ‘all’ or ‘every’. It’s uhm… it’s Greek.” Dipper cut in nervously. 

Mabel inhaled deeply and sighed, shaking her head. She smiled at Dipper. “Okay, let’s try this again.” She forced herself to stand up tall, pushing her long hair back over her shoulders and looked her Grunkle right in the eyes. “There’s something I’ve been wanting to tell you for awhile, Grunkle Stan. It’s something I couldn’t say over the phone.” 

Grunkle Stan took off his oven mitt and shut off the stovetop. He leaned against the oven and looked at her with his full attention. “I’m listening.” He told her. 

She took another deep breath. “I’ve been learning some things about me, about how I feel and who I like. And I realized, how I want to date girls the same way I… that I want to date boys. That I, uhm. That who I love doesn’t have anything to do with genders. It’s called Pansexual. It’s a… It’s a gay thing.” 

Grunkle Stan’s eyes widened. Mabel bit her lip. “I was worried…” She said. “About how you might feel, after… after learning this about me.” 

“Is that what all this is about?” He asked. “Mabel, that sort of thing doesn’t matter to me. You just be whoever you are.” 

She nodded, sniffling. Her eyes were welling up with tears. “I’m so happy!” She broke out into a wide grin and threw her arms around him for the second time that night, squeezing him even harder. “You’re the best! I love you, I love you, I love you!” 

“Yeah, yeah.” He ruffled her hair. “You don’t have anything to worry about, you little rascal.” 

She turned to Dipper and Soos. Her brother smiled, and Soos was giving her a thumbs up. “Right on, dude!” he said. 

She grinned back at them. Then a thought crossed her mind. “I need to tell Waddles!” She cried exctidely, running out of the room. 

Grunkle Stan chuckled. “That girl.” He said fondly, shaking his head. 

Dipper stood up. “Hey Grunkle Stan,” He began. “There’s actually something I need to warn you about. About Mabel.” 

Stan was pulling back on his oven mitt and turning on the stove. “What? Got a problem with her, kid?” There was a warning tone in his voice. “Because if it’s bothering you, maybe you need to re-sort your priorities.” 

Dipper shook his head. “No, I don’t have a problem. I just wanted to say, remember how boy-crazy she used to be? Now she’s just... crazy-crazy. Be prepared for a lot of screaming this summer.” 

“No gender is safe from Mabel now.” Soos nodded with a severe expression. 

A look of fear came across Grunkle Stan’s face as the sizzling of the kernels began again. Dipper yawned. “Well, I’m going to bed. Night, guys.” 

He left the kitchen, hearing Grunkle Stan saying something to Soos about it being darn time for him to head home. He walked up the stairs to their shared room, where Mabel was sitting on her bed with her pig family. She was putting up posters of female athletes and some band members who he wasn’t quite sure what gender they were. 

“Did I tell you so or what?” He asked. 

Mabel beamed. “You were so right!” She taped up the corners. “It’s going to be a great summer.”


	3. A Reunion

It was hard to sleep late into the morning in Gravity Falls, but that didn’t stop Dipper Pines from trying. The sun rose hellishly early, and the lack of curtains brought the light pouring straight into the room in a triangular shape. Plus, they were in the highest room of the house and it heat up to intolerable degrees very quickly. Not to mention the nearby forest had lots of nature, i.e. lots of shrieking and early-rising animals. Lastly, on top of it all, the Mystery Shack would occasionally open early and there was the sound of tourist traffic in the parking lot below.

However, It was their 5th summer at Gravity Falls, and Dipper was determined to power through it. Especially after they had stayed up so late the night before. He had pulled the blanket over his eyes and his pillow over his ears. He made it until a little past noon, when party music suddenly started blaring downstairs. The throbbing bass began to shake the room. That was too much. 

“Why is this happening?!” Dipper yelled over the noise. 

Dust was shaking from the ceiling above and the few items they had unpacked that night were jumping up and down like there was an earthquake. 

“I don’t know!” Mabel shrieked back, hands over her ears. “But this is my kind of wake up call!” She was bobbing her head to the music, always one to look on the bright side of things. “Let’s get breakfast!” She suggested loudly. 

“I wanted to sleep in.” Dipper grumbled, but she couldn’t hear him anyway. She was pulling on jeans over her boxer shorts and a sweater over her tank top. Dipper just pulled the blankets up higher. 

She pulled her hair into a loose bun and put on her favorite feather earrings to match her favorite winged-pig sweater. Grabbing her toothbrush and paste she made her way down the stairs, yawning and rubbing her eyes. But what she saw when she got to the bottom made her dash back up then. 

“Dipper!” She screamed, slamming the bedroom door shut behind her. “You have to get up now!” 

“Wh-?” He rubbed at his eyes. 

“Nevermind, there’s no time!” She began brushing her teeth aggressively. “Meet me downstairs!” She cried, mouth full of foam. 

Before he could get another word in she was rushing out the room again. The music was too loud, and he was too awake now anyway. He got up out of bed and pulled on his hat. He had slept in his clothes, so he didn’t need to change. Mabel said it was really gross that he did that, but hey, it was convenient. Besides that was coming from a girl who thought the best place to keep her eraser during class was up her nostril. For a “quick and easy storing place. Plus I won’t loose it!” 

Dipper made his way downstairs, but there was no one in the living room. The music was still blaring and he could hear shrieking laughter so obviously there were people somewhere. He walked into the main hall of the Mystery Shack. 

The music was even louder in here, and he could see why. There was a boom box pounding by one of the exhibits. Plus the room was strung with streamers and packed to the brim with cheering, dancing people. 

Dipper was confused for a moment before he saw the banner. It hung above his head and read in very glittery marker; “WELCOME BACK TO GRAVITY FALLS MABEL AND DIP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” Mabel ran to him, dragging behind her none other than Wendy Corduroy by the arm. 

“Look at this party! For us!” She was smiling so hard her face was in danger of splitting in two. “And Wendy’s here!” 

“Dipper!” Wendy exclaimed, throwing her arms around her friend. 

“Hey!” He hugged her back. He was finally not shorter than her. Granted, he still wasn’t taller, and Mabel towered over them both, but it was definitely an improvement. “How’s the university?” 

“Oh man, don’t even get me started on how great Portland is.” She grinned. “Hey Dipper you’re not wearing all black!” 

He flushed. “Yeah, that’s uhm. I don’t do that anymore.” 

“171 days Goth-Free!” Mabel cheered. 

Her brother glared at her. “I still can’t believe you’re keeping track.” He grumbled. 

“I love your hair Wendy.” Mabel told her, admiring her new pixie cut. “Can I touch it?” She asked, hands already on her friend’s head. 

Wendy laughed. “You already are, but go wild dude.” 

“So what’s all this?” Dipper asked, gesturing towards the decorations and a table laden with chips and drinks. 

“Yeah!” Mabel blurted. “Where’s the beautiful angel responsible for this bedonkulaous party?” 

“I think you’re friends Candy and Grenda planned it, Mabel.” Wendy answered her. “I don’t know the details, but I jumped on the invitation. Wouldn’t miss your welcome party.” She glanced at the banner, then back at her friend. “You too, ‘Dip.’” 

“Man, it looks like everyone from Gravity Falls is here.” Mabel looked around smiling. 

“Yeah.” Dipper agreed. “But, _why?_ Are you really friends with Sherriff Blubs and Deputy Durland?” 

“Uhm, yeah!” Mabel responded. “They’re my _best_ friends, Dipper!” Wendy shook her head, shaking with laughter. 

“Hey, even Pacifica Northwest showed up!” Wendy pointed out the very fashionable and nervous looking girl, who was currently sitting alone on the couch by the hall. 

“Pacifica Northwest?!” Mabel cried, whipping her head around. “I’ve gotta go say hi!” 

Seconds after she said that two teenagers girl sprung at her, engulfing her in a fierce hug. 

“Candy! Grenda!” Mabel exclaimed. “My homeslices!” 

“Mabel! Do you like our party?” Candy asked. She hadn’t seemed to have grown since they were twelve. She even looked like she was wearing the same outfit. Actually… it might have been the same outfit. Candy had grown into both a genius inventor and a bit of a basement dweller. Her long black hair always seamed to be shining with grease and clinging to her fogged up glasses. 

“It’s so good to see you girl!” Grenda hollered. She had grown a lot. Not necessarily all that much taller, but whereas Candy looked exactly the same, puberty had done Grenda a lot of favors. She was still very muscular for a girl, but she had grown into it. She looked less like a pro-wrestler and more like an buff Amazonian goddess. Both Dipper and Mabel couldn’t deny her hotness if they tried. 

“You too, Dipper!” Grenda gave him what she probably thought was a playful shove but felt like it was going to leave a bruise. She was still the human personification of caps lock. 

“The party’s great!” Mabel yelled. “I love everything! I love you!” 

“It’s really thoughtful.” Dipper agreed. “But why didn’t you wait for us to start it?” 

“That’s wasting precious party time!” Grenda told him like it was the most obvious thing in the world. “DUH!” She added. 

“Sorry about your name, Dipper.” Candy said. “We didn’t have enough room.” 

“Then why are there a million exclamation marks?” Dipper asked suspiciously. 

“That’s why we shortened your name.” She responded. “To make room for the exclamation marks.” 

“Forgot the technicalities!” Mabel cried. “Let’s par-taayy!” 

Grenda and Candy shrieked in agreement. The grabbed her by the shoulders and turned to the crowd. “Mabel Pines has arrived!” They announced. The crowd exploded into cheers in response. 

“So, you staying for the summer?” Dipper asked, turning back to his friend. 

Wendy nodded. “Yeah, staying with my family. But they’re just going to drive me crazy so we’ll need to hang out all the time.” 

“Of course.” Dipper looked around. “I don’t even recognize some of the people here.” He admitted. 

“Dude, I’ve lived here my whole life and even _I_ don’t know some of these guys.” Wendy confessed. “Mabel has a million friends.” 

“You should see how many she has back in Piedmont.” Dipper said. “She’s basically best friends with the whole town. And all the animals.” He chuckled, shaking his head. “While I, on the other hand, have only one friend who came to this party.” 

“Well, this friend dragged her butt down from Portland to come see you. And she’s awesome as hell so I don’t need to hear any complaining, buster.” Wendy said, throwing her arm around his shoulder. 

Dipper laughed. “You’re right, I’m not complaining. It used to bother me how many more friends she has, but I’m okay with it now.” He shrugged. “It’s not like I don’t have any. Just stupid sibling rivalry I guess.” 

“Well, you got me. And you got Mabel.” She pointed to where his twin was dancing wildly, pig in her arms. “And Waddles. Plus, if Soos wasn’t working I know he would be here. And- ” Her eyes grew wide. “Oh, snap! Is that Thompson?!” 

“Thompson!” She waved her arms in the air, and upon spotting her he walked towards them. Wendy elbowed her friend. “See? Even Thompson’s here for you!” 

The stout man stood in front of the two them, scratching at the back of his neck nervously. “Uh… Actually I’m here to ask if you can turn down the music.” Thompson corrected. “I’m working in the Gift Shop and- “ 

“Woah, you work here now?” Dipper asked. 

“Yes.” He replied. “And I’d really appreciate it if you guys would turn it down. Or off, preferably.” 

“Sure thing, buddy. Hey!” She yelled at Sherriff Blubs, the closest person the radio. “Turn it up!” 

“You got it!” He called back, and cranked up the techno soundtrack even louder. Wendy winked at Thompson. He slapped his hands to his face and walked away, looking defeated. 

Dipper laughed. It seemed like Wendy hadn’t changed at all. It was a bit of relief, he had been concerned the big city might have alerted the friend he had known for years. And she was right, it didn’t matter if Mabel could fill a skyscraper with her friends. It’s not like he was all alone. 

Speaking of alone… 

His gaze caught on Pacifica. She was just sitting there on the sofa, slouching with her elbows on her knees and her chin in her hands. He hadn’t seen anyone say a word to her since he had came into the room. 

“Wanna dance?” Wendy asked. 

“Actually, I’m going to talk Northwest over there.” Dipper told her. “She looks pretty bummed.” 

“That’s cool, man.” She said. “I’ll go see if Waddles is free. I want a taste of those sweet moves he’s got.” Wendy gave her little signature salute of goodbye. “Nice seeing you.” 

“You too.” Dipper said before making his way across the room. It was actually harder than it sounded, as it was filled with erratically dancing townsfolk. He made a detour to the snack table and grabbed two Pitt Colas and then sat beside her on the sofa. The music was a lot softer on the other side of the room. 

“Hey.” He greeted, and she looked up at him. “Someone’s looking lonesome.” He said, handing her a drink. 

She took it but narrowed her eyes. “I’m not lonely. I just didn’t want to have to deal with any of Mabel crazed, lunatic friends.” 

Dipper looked out at all the dancing people. Lazy Susan was droppin’ it low with Wendy, and Deputy Durland had taken off his shirt. He was swinging it above his head and whooping. 

“Yeah, her friends can get kind of wild.” He acknowledged. “And it seems like everyone in the town came to see her.” 

“Hey, I came to see both of you.” Pacifica told him. 

“Yeah?” Dipper smiled. “Thanks.” 

She returned it, but only briefly. She looked down at the soda in her hands and took a sip. “Why won’t anyone talk to me?” She frowned. 

“Maybe it’s because you’re calling them crazed lunatics?” Dipper responded. “Don’t worry about it.” 

Pacifica still looked upset. She opened her mouth to say something but right at that moment Mabel burst through the crowd of people and flopped down next to the two of them. 

“Pacifica!” She yelled, sounding as if she was still trying to scream over the music. “I’m so glad you came!” 

“Ow! I’m happy to see you too, Mabel.” Pacifica winced at her noise level, but her face brightened up. “How are you doing?” Before she could answer Candy and Grenda walked up. 

“Come back on the floor, dancing queen!” Candy cheered. She turned to Pacifica. 

“Oh, hi Pacifica.” She said, her volume and enthusiasm significantly dropping. She even wrinkled her nose a little. 

“Is this the best party or what?!” Grenda shouted, sitting down between Mabel and Pacifica. 

“It is!” Mabel agreed. “Everyone’s here!” 

“Including her,” Candy looked at Pacifica. “For some reason.” Pacifica flinched. 

“Why is that?” Grenda asked. “You know there’s not party crown to steal this time, right?” 

Pacifica shook her head, smiling a wide sarcastic smile. “You know, have I ever told you guys how much your names suite you? It makes so much sense, I love it!” 

Mabel felt her smile fall right off her face with a splat. She had a feeling what was coming next. 

“Candy is really sticky and gross. And I hate it. And Grenda sounds just like Goblin!” Pacifica titled her head to the side and made a thoughtful expression. “Or maybe more like Gremlin?” 

Mabel laughed uncomfortably. “Hey look, guys-“ 

“No, no. You’re right.” Pacifica stood up. “There _isn’t_ a party crown or something else to steal, so I have no reason to be here.” She began to laugh. “I mean, after all I’m obviously such a _bad person_ that I have nothing better to do,” her voice was starting to crack. “Then ruin everyone’s fun, right?” 

“Pacifica!” Mabel exclaimed, but the other girl was already quickly walking out of the room, pushing past the dancing guests. 

“Thanks a lot you two!” Mabel reprimanded them. Candy and Grenda just looked genuinely confused and she shook her head. She stood up, making her way through the crowd after her. 

# 

Pacifica was sitting on the front porch. It was obnoxiously sunny and even hotter outside. There were a few tourists in the parking lot, since the gift shopping was still running. Even if tours were off for the day. She was playing a game on her brand new smart phone, the newest one on the market. 

“Hey, I’m really sorry about all that.” Mabel apologized, crouching down to sit on the steps beside her. 

“What’s their damage?” Pacifica asked angrily. 

Mabel sighed. “Well, you used to be really mean to them. To me too, for that matter. And it doesn’t help that you just said what you did.” 

Pacifica scoffed. She was still staring down at her phone, refusing to look up. Mabel didn’t know what the right thing to say was. She looked out at the parking lot, watching a woodpecker terrorize a group of small children. It was funny, but she didn’t have it in her to laugh. 

She looked back at the girl next to her. Pacifica had changed so much in just a year. Well, was still wearing her trademark Ugh Boots, earrings and purple eyeshadow. But she had gotten a little taller, and something else had changed too. She just seemed prettier somehow. Maybe it was her hair. It was cut into a little chin-length bob. 

“Hey, you never told me you cut your hair.” Mabel told her. “It’s really cute.” 

Pacifica looked up from her phone, grabbing at her hair self-consciously. “Is it? It’s the most popular look right now.” 

“Oh.” Mabel couldn’t think of a reply. “Cool.” 

Silence fell between the two again. 

“Actually I…” Pacifica began nervously. “I wanted to cut it short for a long time. My parents didn’t want me to though. But it was in season now so I was allowed to. I really like having it short.” She bowed her head, averting her eyes. “Thanks for complimenting it.” 

Mabel smiled politely in response, but she felt confused. Her head really hurt and she felt like she was going to die. _That was so cute???_ She was beside herself. 

“Anyway, you’re one to talk.” Pacifica told her. “You didn’t tell me you were a giant now.” 

Mabel felt she cheeks heat up. “I think the outfit makes me seem a little taller than I am.” She gestured to her crop-top sweater and high cut skinny jeans. Plus her platform sneakers. 

“Yeah, right.” Pacifica bumped against Mabel with her shoulder. “That doesn’t change the fact you’re clocking in at seven feet.” 

Mabel laughed and Pacifica grinned at her. 

The music suddenly got louder, and Mabel turned to see the door opening as Waddles stepped out. He snorted, trotting over towards her and plopping himself down on her lap. 

“I know it sounds crazy, but I really like you’re pig, Mabel.” Pacifica said, looking down at her soulmate fondly. “That day you won him at the carnival? I know I teased you, but I was just kind of jealous. Honestly, I wanted to win him myself.” She confessed. “But who am I kidding? What would I do with a stupid little animal?” 

Mabel pet her pig, nodding at Pacifica’s story. She had never though about it before. That in the alternate timeline Pacifica had won Waddles. Mabel felt her heart hammering. They had so much more in common than she had thought before. They both loved pigs! Maybe they were meant to be. Maybe they were a match made in heaven! Maybe… Maybe she was getting ahead of herself. 

“Wanna pet him?” Mabel asked. 

Pacifica’s eyes went wide. “Can I?!” She asked, her voice squeaking. She cleared her throat. “Or, like, Whatever.” She added. 

She laughed. “He’s all yours.” She gestured to the pig. 

Pacifica’s hand nervously trembled, reaching for the pig. Instantly he started shrieking, flipping over onto his back and legs flailing in panic. Pacifica’s hand shot back as if she had been burned, and she looked at Mabel, her eyes just as full of panic as Waddles. 

“No, no. It’s okay.” Mabel tried to calm Waddles down, holding him tight. “He uh… he does this sometimes.” 

As soon as Waddles stopped shrieking Mabel let him go, and he scampered off back inside. “He’ll be back.” Mabel said, trying to sound reassuring. Pacifica looked sulky, staring at the ground. Mabel tried to think of something to say. The music was blaring in the other room and she thought about the party. 

“Do you wanna dance with me?!” She blurted out. 

“What?” Pacifica asked, taken by surprise. 

“Me… you…” Mabel laughed awkwardly. “Dancing?” That was normal, right? Friend’s asked friends to dance all the time. Nothing weird. 

Pacifica smiled, but she looked upset. “I already called my driver. He’s coming to get me. I don’t really think…” She looked back at the door. “This isn’t really my scene.” 

“You’re leaving?” 

Pacifica nodded. Mabel tried very hard to keep the pout off her face. She had so much she wanted to talk to her about. In fact, she had one thing in particular she had really wanted to tell her. 

In fact, she found herself blurting the words out now. 

“Hey Pacifica!” The words tumbled out. Pacifica turned to her. 

“Remember that day we were talking on the phone and you asked what was wrong? And I said I was just really confused but I wouldn’t tell you what it was about?” Mabel took a breath and continued. “I was confused because I kind of felt like I liked girls but I also liked boys and I wasn’t really sure what it meant?” She waited for Pacifica to say something, but she didn’t. So she just kept going. 

“Well, actually I found out something? Well I read something, and it made realize I felt that way. I, uh, I realized I’m pansexual.” Pacifica was staring at her blankly. Mabel bit her lip. “I just really wanted to tell you.” 

Pacifica nodded, but she was making a weird face. She almost looked… scared? Mabel felt sick. She had been worried about coming out to Grunkle Stan, but she hadn’t thought to be worried about what her friends might say, and Pacifica least of all. Her parents were known allies and had donated to charities for the queer homeless. Maybe she just didn’t understand. 

“It’s okay if you don’t know what the word means.” Mabel chuckled awkwardly. “A lot of people don’t. Pansexual just means that-“ 

“I know what it means.” Pacifica interrupted. Okay, she totally looked scared now, and she sounded kind of angry. 

Mabel felt _really_ sick. Something was wrong but she had no idea what. Pacifica’s eyes suddenly went wide and her expression softened . 

“I’m sorry, Mabel.” She apologized. She paused for a moment, then exhaled. 

“I don’t have a problem with it. It’s great that you figured everything out. I’m happy for you.” It was what she had wanted to hear, but Mabel couldn’t smile at those words. They sounded so forced. 

A long black limousine pulled into the parking lot. Many of the tourists, unaccustomed to the world of fancy, began shrieking and taking pictures of it. Pacifica stood up, mumbling that her ride was here. She started to walk down the steps and towards the car. A fancily dressed man stepped out and opened the door for her, then bowed. Everything felt wrong. 

“Pacifica!” Mabel called, standing up too. Pacifica turned around. 

Mabel ran across the parking lot to her. “I…” She began, but stopped there. What did she want to say? 

“I’m really glad you came.” 

“And I said I was happy to see you too,” Pacifica replied. “Do you feel like a broken record now?” 

“I mean it.” Mabel said. Both of them were taken aback by how sincere it was. 

“I meant it too.” Pacifica said, and it was almost a whisper it was so soft. She began stepping into the limo when Mabel grabbed her wrist. 

“Yes?” She asked. 

“Sleep over!” Mabel blurt out. 

Pacifica’s head tilted in confusion. 

“Not tonight. Some time. Tomorrow?” Mabel smiled hopefully. “Spend the night? Here? Maybe?” 

“My parents would never let me do that.” Mabel’s heart sunk. 

Pacifica glanced at the butler, then leaned in close, cupping her hand over her mouth. “So I guess I’ll have to sneak out.” She whispered. The closeness made Mabel shiver, but her words made her vibrate with excitement like a dog who had a Frisbee. 

Pacifica was grinning smugly, and there was an excited twinkle in her eye. God, it was hot. “Really?” Mabel squeaked. She nodded. 

Without thinking about it, she threw her arms around Pacifica. 

Touching wasn’t really a thing they did often, and Pacifica seemed to bristle like a porcupine every time they did. So Mabel was surprised and so full of happiness she could burst when Pacifica tentatively wrapped her arms around her too. 

They stood there for what was probably a handful of seconds, but it felt like a lifetime to Mabel. She squeezed Pacifica tightly. She felt so warm and tingly she couldn’t stand it. Her head was leaning against hers and she tried, and failed, to not be creepy and sniffed Pacifica’s hair a little. It smelled like hope and dreams and also gardenia. 

When they broke apart Pacifica was beat red and couldn’t look her in the eyes. She smiled, and nodded at nothing in particular. She reached for the door and accidentally grabbed the butler’s face. “Quite right, miss.” He said. 

“Sooo.... Afternnon?” Mabel asked, rocking back and forth on her heels, hands behind her back like she was an excited little kid with a secret. 

“Afternoon.” Pacifica agreed, sitting down in the car. “It’s a date.” The butler closed the door for her before walking back into the front and getting in himself. The limousine purred to life like the most elegant of felines and began to drive out of the parking lot. 

Pacifica rolled down the window and called, “Oh! And Mabel! Tell you’re brother I think he looks better without all that makeup!” 

“Will do!” Mabel called back, waving her hand in an enthusiastic goodbye. 

She watched the car drive back out onto the road and towards the Northwest Manor. She didn’t think she could stop smiling even if someone had come and pulled down her cheeks. 

“It’s a date!” She whispered. 

She fell to the ground and starting giggling, pressing her hand up against her face and rolling back and forth, laughing wildly. The tourists began to take pictures of her, but she couldn’t care less. 

It probably didn’t mean anything, just a fancy person’s way of saying “Oh yes, let’s do it on that day.” But hey, Pacifica was the one who had said it. Not Mabel. 

A date!


	4. Half a Confession

Mabel Pines had never once understood how patience was a virtue. Things like honesty were virtues. Wisdom, selflessness, responsibility, those were all virtues. Kindness and compassion and understanding and all the others she had learned in picture books about animals. But patience? Who needed that?

“Be patient, Mabel.” Were words she had heard more often than not in life. When there were freshly baked cookies, when she was waiting in line for the new Pony Heist movie, when was a child and she was wiggling a loose tooth.

She didn’t need patience. What did it matter if her fingers were burnt? She had the cookie. And who cares if she was bleeding from her gums? The tooth was out. Speed. Now that should be a virtue. The ability to go places and get things done quickly, that’s what really mattered in life. Not the ability to wait for things without whining.

“Be patient, Mabel.” Dipper chastised his sister. She was lying on the living room floor, flat on her back. Waddles was lying on her face. (The piglets were out. They liked to follow Soos around while he worked. Especially Soos Jr, who had taken quite a liking to him.) Mabel said Waddles was here to comfort her, but Dipper thought he might be trying to muffle her moaning.

“She said afternoon! It’s after noon!” Mabel groaned.

Dipper was slumped back in Stan’s favorite chair, watching re-runs of Duck-tective. He was still in pajama shorts and hadn’t brushed his hair yet. “Yeah, it’s exactly two minutes after noon.”

“Exactly!” Mabel threw her arms in the air. “So why isn’t she here yet?”

Dipper just shrugged, a little fed up with his twin. She had been up since dawn cleaning the room. Then she decided to clean the rest of the house. Then she decided that _they_ needed cleaning too.

He did not understand Mabel. He loved her, and knew lots of things about her. But he would never fully know what was happening in her strange, glitter-covered mind. Why did he need to bathe for _her_ houseguest? Heck, why would he even bathe for his _own_ house guest? Wendy was coming over soon and he wasn’t even wearing pants.

He supposed it _was_ Pacifica Northwest they were talking about. She was a much sweeter girl than anyone had expected, but she was still a stuck-up, upper-class millionaire. Still, did he really need to shower?

“Y’know, Wendy’s coming over.” He reminded her. Maybe he could get her mind off Pacifica Northwest for awhile. Get some peace and quiet. “She said she’d be here in like thirty minutes.”

“Does Wendy have beautiful blonde hair and snort like a sweet little piglet if she laughs too hard?” Mabel retorted. Dipper didn’t even know what to say to that, so he just went back to watching his tv program. He turned up the volume a few more notches to drown out his sisters moaning.

Three episodes of duck-tective later, there was knocking at the door. Dipper paused the episode, about to get out of the chair when Mabel emitted an ear-splitting shriek. Before he could even stand up she was at the front door.

She was rushing to open it, but stopped herself. She took a deep breath, straightened out her hair, ran her tongue over her teeth. Then she opened the door. And there she was, tall and skinny and in combat boots, ratty shorts and laden with freckles. Mabel frowned. Why did this always happen?

“Oh,” She leaned her head against the door frame. “Hey, Wendy.”

“Hey.” Wendy frowned upon seeing her state, walking in and shutting the door behind her. “What’s eating you?”

Mabel just leaned against the wall, sliding down with an anguished cry. Dipper walked into the room, wearing a pair of recently-put-on jeans and running his hand through his hair. “Eh, she’s fine.” Dipper told Wendy. “She’s just bummed Pacifica isn’t over yet.”

Wendy crouched down to Mabel. She ruffled her hair. “C’mon kiddo, no moping around on my watch.”

“She’ll be here soon. Come hang out with us, Mabel.” Dipper offered. He hold out his hand for his sister, and she took it with a reluctant smile.

“Yeah, okay.” She brushed off her knees.

“Y’know, patience is a virtue.” Wendy said, sticking out her tongue.

#

Mabel eventually managed to get her mind off Pacifica Northwest. She had always been a bit anxious before a friend came over for the very first time, and she had never been one for waiting. She also was a little on edge because she wasn’t sure if she was really coming. Maybe her parents would catch her, or she would decide it wasn’t worth the risk, or maybe just change her mind about wanting to spend time with her.

She frowned. Pacifica _had_ been being kind of weird yesterday. After she had come out to her… But she had said she didn’t mind too. Either way, she wasn’t going to let it get to her anymore. She was in the middle of an intense game of poker.

“Uno!” Mabel cried, slamming down said card.

Dipper groaned. “Mabel, stop mixing in cards from other sets.”

“Not her fault you suck at this game, dude.” Wendy told him, placing 300$ of monopoly money down. “Fold.”

“No, but it’s her fault Waddles ate half of my cards.” He retorted, narrowing his eyes at the pig. He was chewing happily on the two of clubs. “Not that it makes a difference to me.” Dipper added. He smiled smugly and put down his hand. A royal flush.

“Sure, sure. Always blame the pig.” Mabel said, “But I’ve got you beat.” Mabel revealed her hand. “Read ‘em and weep, Bro-Bro.” She grinned, placing down five shiny Bulbasaur pokemon trading cards.

“Ohhhh,” Wendy called out in her deep frat-boy voice. “Snap!”

Dipper shook his head. “That doesn’t count Mabel.”

“I don’t know, dude.” Wendy leaned over the breakfast table for closer inspection of her hand. “They’re _shinies_.” Grunkle Stan walked into the kitchen. He was in his Man of Mystery outfit, taking a time off from the tours for his daily lunch break. He was rummaging around in the fridge. Wendy looked over at her old boss. “What do you think, Mr. Pines?”

“What do I think?” He muttered. He pulled out a soda and popped the tab. “I don’t care, that’s what I think. Slaving away while you kids are goofing off in here.”

“I saved up enough to move, then I got a scholarship.” Wendy told him, putting her legs up on the table and crossing them. “My days in your slave yard are over.”

Grunkle Stan gestured to the twins. “And what’s their excuse? You’re still related to me, last time I checked. That means tour guide duty.”

Dipper waved him off. “I’ve got a friend over, Grunkle Stan.”

“And I’ve got one coming over soon.” Mabel cut in, quick as she could. She glanced at the clock and frowned. She should have had one coming over soon, anyway.

Stan shook his head, pulling out leftovers before slamming the fridge shut. “Make room for me on the table?” He asked.

“We just finished a game,” Dipper replied. He began picking up the cards. “It’s all yours.”

Mabel and Wendy helped him gather the ones that had been tossed aside in a fit of fury and the scattered Skittles they had been betting with. The game really hadn’t had much weight behind it, because they had just been snacking on the bet pool throughout the match.

The friends made their way to the living room, Waddles getting up from under the table and trotting after them. Mabel sat down on the carpet and laid out the cards again. “You two up for another round?” She asked.

Wendy smiled, sitting criss-cross next to her. “You know it.”

“I think Stan has some cards in his room.” Dipper told them. “I’m going to ask for his set.” He walked back into the kitchen.

“We don’t need ‘em!” Mabel called after him. “This set is perfectly fine!” She waved the cards out after him, but he wasn’t listening. Instead Waddles sniffed at the cards, before opening his mouth and munching on them. Mabel put them down on the carpet for him.

The college student laughed. “Surprised he was willing to play two games with your cards. He’s usually so anal about organization and all that.”

Mabel nodded. “Yeah, he’s gotten a bit more relaxed. A lot of that control-freak attitude was just ‘cuz he was an anxious kid.” Mabel thought of how much he had changed from when they were twelve. He had always wanted to be so grown-up and mature, which just made him feel more powerless and upset when things didn’t go his way. But since then he’d slowly gotten more comfortable in his skin, and happy with where he was in his life. He could still be a total wet blanket, though. “The rest is his personality.” She added.

“We’ve got a lot in common, in that way.” Wendy rested her chin in her hand, tapping her fingers thoughtfully. “I used to not let myself get stressed about anything, I wanted to be this cool girl who just rolled with the punches. But that’s not who I was. Ever since I was a kid I would get all bent out of shape over the smallest things. And that wasn’t healthy, but acting like I was someone else just made it all worse.”

Wendy’s eyes looked lost in thought, mindlessly twirling around the Bulbasaur card. She tilted it in and out of the sun beams that were pouring into the room, watching the way it sparkled in the light. ‘It’s just better to feel what you feel. Always.”

Those words sounded familiar to Mabel. Maybe not the way they were said, but what they meant. Like they had always been on the tip of tongue and swirling around in her mind. It really was better. She had tried to lie to herself too many times about lots of things. About being scared, or unhappy, or even about who she was attracted to. She didn’t like to feel anything negative, or to be confused, but when she refused to admit it to herself things never got better.

Wendy suddenly laughed. “Whoops. Sorry, didn’t mean to get all serious there.” She put down the card and turned to Mabel. “What’s new with you, kid?”

Because of what Wendy had just said, and because Mabel had been bubbling with excitement to tell everyone, she decided it was the perfect time to tell her the most important new thing about her.

A Cheshire grin spread across Mabel’s face. “Well, there’s something I realized about myself.” She leaned in closer, and Wendy’s face piqued with interest accordingly. “I found out that I’m pansexual.”

“No way!” Wendy ruffled her hair. “That’s so awesome, man!”

Mabel chuckled. She wasn’t really nervous with Wendy. No one was more nonchalant and non-judgmental. So long as they weren’t hurting anyone, Wendy would just shrug off any confession, no matter how odd, and go back to what she doing. But there was always a bit of second-guessing when she came out to someone, and Mabel couldn’t help but feel relived that her friend had such a positive reaction.

“So, you out?” She asked.

Mabel laughed. “I used to say yes when people asked me that. But I guess I never really thought about how you need to come out to _every single person I know_.” She shook her head. “It’s a process, but yeah. I’ve told everyone in Piedmont. I wanted to come out in person though, so not everyone here knows.”

“Cool, cool. That’s so awesome, Mabel.” She said again. “What did Stan say? Tell him yet?”

“He was totally fine with it.” Mabel told her. “Dipper’s been really supportive too.”

“Good, glad I don’t need to kick anyone’s butts.” Wendy laughed. Then she stopped and looked Mabel dead in the eye. “Because if I need to, I will.”

Mabel laughed, but awkwardly. Wendy was still staring her down intently. She didn’t really know what to say and was relieved when Dipper walked back into the room. He flopped down on the sofa. He was cardless and looking very annoyed.

“Find your oh-so-important ‘real set’ Bro-bro?” Mabel asked.

Her brother let out a huff. “Apparently they were his magic card set.”

Wendy clicked her tongue. “Uh-oh.” She said. “Let me guess, he tried to show you that trick he’s been practicing for years.”

“Yeah, and he took forever about it.” Dipper blew his bangs up out of his eyes. “And when I asked if he could hurry up he looked at me as if I told him to cut off his own head.”

Wendy shook her head. “You know how he gets about his magic tricks. Did you ever get the cards?”

Dipper’s grumpiness level visibly doubled. ‘It was a disappear and re-appear trick, and he only has one part down.” He slumped down. “So, anyway. Back to Mabel’s awful cards.”

His twin clapped her hands together. “A-ha! Where did I put them?” She looked back and forth across the room, her hair flipping as she did so. Wendy pointed to Waddles, who was halfway through eating the deck. Mabel reached over to scoop up the cards. “There they are!” She cheerfully exclaimed.

Dipper looked like something may have snapped inside him. He looked like he was about to yell. He took a deep breath, then let it out in the form of a sigh, shaking his head before slapping his hands to his face.

As Mabel began shuffling them she heard a noise off in the distance. Both her and Waddles perked up. “Here that?” She asked. Wendy sat up a little straighter and nodded.

“I do.” She said, and it got even louder.

“It’s getting closer, whatever it is.” Dipper told them. The house began to shake a little, and the sound was becoming deafening. “And louder!” He yelled above the noise.

“That sounds like a helicopter!” Wendy was practically screaming to be heard.

Right on cue, Grunkle Stan ran into the room. “What is that racket?!” He demanded. This was the last straw for Waddles who squealed, bolting under the sofa.

Mabel stood up, putting her hands over her ears. The second deafening sound in two days since they arrived. But this wasn’t a fun, party sound. She started running towards the gift shop, where it sounded like it was coming from.

The door was swinging back and forth on it’s hinges and things in the shop were falling over. Some people were scurrying around, a few hiding in the merchandise with t-shirts stuffed over their ears. They were being blown over by a gust of wind that was tearing it’s way through the whole shack. Mabel grabbed the door and pushed it all the way open, trying to look out.

Her hair was being blown every which way along with her clothes, feeling the wind push her back. She struggled to push her hair out of eyes and that’s when she saw it. A helicopter landing a stones throw away from her in the parking lot.

The nearby pine forest was also being pushed back by the lowering chopper, the wind it was creating stirring up dust and sending leaves flying. It came down to the ground smoothly and the blades began to slow. Mabel’s heart quickened. This could mean one of two things. Either it was the FBI, catching up with her Grunkle for some miscellaneous crime or-

A kind-of-familiar-looking tuxedo’d old man stepped out of it, a pink backpack slung over his arm and a purple roller suitcase in one hand. With his free hand he opened the side door on the helicopter. A young blonde woman carefully stepped down. She was carrying an iPhone and pushing up her designer shades off her face and unto the top of her head. Mabel’s heart did a back flip. It was the second of two things.

Mabel meant to squeal Pacifica’s name, but instead she just laughed erratically and waved her arms excitedly. The wind died down as the spinning blades reached typical ceiling fan velocity and Pacifica took her butler’s arm as he escorted her and her bags to the door.

“You can just leave that by the door.” She gestured to the bags, which the butler promptly placed on the wooden porch. “Thanks, Francsorie.” She reached in her purse and pulled out 100$ and casually handed it to him.

He nodded and responded with the usual “Quite right, Miss.” Mabel’s intense and mind-consuming delight was paused and temporarily replaced with the intense desire to mush his fancy old man face. Unfortunately, she didn’t get the chance as he bowed to her and made his way back into the helicopter.

The blades started up again and again the wind pushed the girls hair every which way as it made it’s way nosily up past the treetops. It continued its trek vertically, and then past the forest towards the manor until it was just a speck in the sky and the deafening roar was just a faint whisper above them.

Pacifica cleared her throat. “Well, I’m uh. Here.”

Mabel snapped her attention back to the girl in front of her. “Yes!” She clapped her hands together. “Let me get your bags.”

She leaned over to grab them when she noticed Pacifica’s shoes. They were the most elegant of... bathroom slippers. Then she noticed her dress. It wasn’t her usual short fashionable one, but long and silky and light blue. It had cute ruffles and frills and a bow and... Pacifica Northwest was standing on her Great Uncle’s front porch in her pajamas at two in the afternoon.

Slinging the backpack over her shoulders and grabbing the rolling bag she straightened up and grinned at her friend. “What’s with the clothes?” Mabel’s giggles were not well hidden as she opened the door to the gift shop.

“It’s like, a sleepover. Right?” She asked, stepping in behind her. Mabel looked at her face and stopped laughing. Pacifica looked like she was being totally serious. “Right?” She asked again, looking a little worried.

“R-right.” Mabel was concerned. Had this girl never been to a sleep over before? No way. That seemed far too unlikely and tragic. She was probably just being awkward. For all her attitude and style, Pacifica could be a little weird sometimes.

She rolled her bag through the gift shop, watching Thompson try to calm down the frazzled shoppers. Upon seeing Mabel he asked her, in a very panicked voice, what was going on and what all that was about and if everything was going to be okay. She just shrugged with a smile. He began bombarding her with even more questions, but she just tuned him out and shut the door behind her.

“So, this is the living quarters of the Mystery Shack!” Mabel told Pacifica, throwing out her arms and gesturing to the room. Pacifica nodded politely, looking around. Mabel bit her lip. It was looking really messy. Hadn’t she just cleaned it?

Everyone seemed to have recovered from freaking out about the loud helicopter noises. Wendy was lying on the floor, her legs up on sofa with Dipper at her side, parallel to her. She was holding up her phone and they were watching what appeared to be a compilation of painful fails. They were both chuckling at it, but Wendy looked up when they entered the room.

“Oh cool, your friend came! Sup, dude?” She asked, looking to Pacifica.

“Hey.” Pacifica responded. “Casey Washington, right?”

“Not even a little close.” Wendy laughed. “I like your jammies, Northwest.”

Pacifica looked down at her nightgown. Her face turned pink. “Is this… not normal to wear to a sleepover?”

No one said anything. Mabel shifted the backpack straps.

“So what was that noise?” Dipper changed the subject.

“Oh, sorry about all that.” Pacifica said, “My parents were out with the limousine so I had to take the family helicopter.”

“Yikes. Why not the bus?” Wendy asked.

“Millionaires don’t ride the _bus_ ,” Dipper elbowed his friend. “Come on, Wendy.”

“Ha!” Pacifica snorted. “Good one, Dipper.”

Everyone turned to her in confusion.

“Oh.” She raised her eyebrows. “You actually think I’m a millionaire?” Pacifica laughed, shaking her head. “That’s so cute.”

There was another pause.

After a few moments Wendy’s phone chimed, breaking the second silence. She swung up straight. “Oh, dude!” She turned to Dipper. “Tambry’s inviting the gang to the graveyard. You up for it?”

Dipper sat up as well. “Yeah!” He looked at Mabel and Pacifica. “You two wanna come?”

“Sure!” Mabel chirped.

“I’m sorry, did you say the _graveyard??_.” Pacifica had an expression of absolute disgust.

Mabel looked from her friend to her brother. “Oh.” She shrugged. “Maybe not.”

Wendy stood up, untying her jacket from her waist and putting it on. Dipper straightened out his hat and the two walked past them. “I guess I’ll see you guys later.” He said.

“Later!” Wendy called.

The door swung shut behind them. Mabel smiled at Pacifica.

“What shall we do?” She was beaming

“Why are they going to the graveyard?” Pacifica muttered, still looking shocked.

“I’ll show you the upstairs!” Mabel decided aloud.

#

She had forgotten. How had she forgotten?

Pacifica had changed into regular daytime clothes and the two were now sitting on her bed, side by side in absolute silence. Okay, not absolute. It was occasionally broken by Pacifica mumbling about how weird it was that there was only _two floors_ and how she couldn’t believe they had to _share a room_.

Mabel had forgotten how horribly awkward sleepovers could be.

There was once a time in her life when she was younger and just a teensy bit shy, and when her friends came to visit it took awhile for things to get started. However, that was a very long time ago and there was more to it than that. This wasn’t a silence fueled by shyness.

Pacifica pulled out her iPhone and Mabel frowned. She didn’t really know Pacifica. Not super well anyway. They had just started to get to know one another _after_ she had left Gravity Falls last year. And all that interacting had been online. It was weird. Here was this girl she really liked, mere inches away from her who she had known for four years and talked more with when they were 600 miles apart.

Usually Mabel was a motor mouth, but right not she was just trying to ignore the fact it was so hot in here and she felt so sweaty and maybe she was going to throw up.

“What’s your wi-fi password?” Pacifica asked, and for some reason it startled her.

It took her a moment to respond, and when she did she felt a bit sheepish. “Actually, we don’t have internet here.”

“What?!?” Pacifica’s jaw dropped.

Mabel laughed awkwardly. “Yeah, Dipper and I actually talked my Great Uncle Stan into buying it the last time we were here, but he got mad at some Youtube comment and punched the rotor.”

“Oh my god.” Pacifica said. “I can’t believe it. What do you guys, like, _do_ around here then?”

Mabel shrugged. “I dunno. Hang out, watch tv. Sometimes we hunt monsters, I guess.”

“Oh.” Pacifica said and looked back at her phone. “Well, I’ve got 4G so I suppose it’s fine.”

This was going all wrong. They hadn’t seen each other in a year! And this was kind of their first time hanging out in person since they had started skyping nearly three times a week. They should be hugging and crying and talking about maybe how cute they found each other. Or at the very least, how cute boys were or _something_.

“So… got any plans for Summerween?” Mabel tried to get the hamster ball rolling. “It’s so cool you guys have two Halloweens here.”

“No way,” Pacifica scoffed. “Summerween’s for kids.”

Mabel chuckled. “Yeah, okay. But, I think I’m going to trick-or-treat ‘til the end of Highschool. Or until people start turning me away, anyway. I mean, free candy!”

“Oh? I’ve never gone trick or treating.” Pacifica stated nonchalantly. Mabel wasn’t quite sure she had heard her correctly.

Mabel breathed deeply, trying to remain calm. She must have just misheard her. “I’m sorry, what did you just say?”

Pacifica shrugged. “I hate candy.”

Her eye twitched “ Are… are you joking?”

Pacifica shook her head. Mabel felt something inside her snap.

“You’ve never gone trick or treating?” She couldn’t believe it. “You mean, like on Summerween?”

“Yeah.” Pacifica looked up from her phone. Mabel sighed from relief.

“Oh, thank god.” She wiped her forehead. “I thought for a minute there you meant Halloween too.”

“Oh. No, yeah. I also meant Halloween.”

“What?!” Mabel demanded, “Why?!”

Pacifica looked back down and shrugged wordlessly. “I mean, I guess I just didn’t really care about stuff like that. It’s dumb.”

Her desire to remain calm went up in flames.

“What is the matter with you, you crazy woman?! Did you never have a childhood?! Let me guess, you never celebrated Christmas or watched Sailor Moon either!” Mabel cried.

“Whoa, what’s with you?” Pacifica asked, placing down her phone. “I mean, of course we celebrate Christmas. The Northwests are famous for our annual Yuletide Party. And uh, Sailor _Who_?”

Mabel stared at her, wide-eyed, for a solid minute. Then, wordlessly, she stood up and walked over to Dipper’s side of the room. She picked up the old laptop McGucket and the author used to use, (which her brother still was using for mysteries from time to time,) and walked back, slamming it down on the bed.

“Uh…Mabel?” Pacifica asked. She said nothing, powering it up and entering the password. Dipper had berated her for using the machine for this purpose, but she had already downloaded her entire first season DVD onto it.

“Mabel?” Pacifica asked again. Mabel placed the laptop between them, then angrily fluffed up her pillows and stacked them behind her and Pacifica.

“Watch.” Mabel demanded, as the theme song began to play.

#

For the first few minutes Mabel’s arms were crossed and Pacifica viewed in wide-eyed silence. Then she un-crossed her arms and her frown turned partially upside down, into a nervous straight line. She had been so adamant to have Pacifica watch this, she forgot how obnoxiously cheesy Sailor Moon was. It was for that reason she and Dipper (thought he didn’t like to admit it) still loved this show, but that didn’t mean everyone would like it. Pacifica might just find it annoying.

Now she was just uncomfortable, looking only at Pacifica and not at the screen. She was trying to find out if her friend’s eyes were wide in a delighted way or not. Though, if she was being honest it really looked more like a “What on this unholy and godforsaken earth is this maniac girl making me watch” way.

To make matters worse, during the funniest part of the episode Soos Jr, Waddles, and Peggy Freckles came into the room. Pacifica had missed the joke, too busy looking at the pigs. Waddles, wary of her, sat beside Mabel along with Soos Jr but Peggy Freckles sniffed at Pacifica’s leg before reaching her hooves up.

“Can I… pick her up?” Pacifica’s voice was a faint whisper of disbelief.

“Huh?” Mabel tried to rewind the last minute. “Yeah, go for it.”

She hit play as Pacifica picked up the pig. It made a cute little yawning noise and an explosion of stars lit up behind Pacifica’s eyes.

She had missed the joke again.

After what felt like a century of torture, but was really just the usual 20 minute run time, Pacifica turned to her. Mabel felt her stomach flip in anticipation.

“Mabel.” She said grimly. “Mabel, that was really, really, _really_ stupid.”

Her heart sunk.

“…Play the next one.”

#

By the time Dipper came into the room, it was already dark outside. They had watched a ridiculous amount of Sailor Moon, the entirety Dream Boys High (which Pacifica never once stopped laughing at Mabel for liking. It was a _little_ embarrassing that this had been her favorite movie up until 13) They were currently starting their 3rd movie now, Pacifica still wiping her eyes from the end of The Princess Bride.

The two girls were sitting on the bed, making references and giggling. Peggy Freckles was nested in Mabel’s hair and Waddles had finally gotten comfortable enough around Pacifica to lie inbetween the two girls while his son, Soos Jr slept on her chest. They had gone from sitting up straight to lying side by side in a sort of blanket fort they had compiled sometime during Jurassic Park.

“Hey.” Dipper greeted, sitting down on his bed. He reached over and turned on the lamp on their shared beside table.

Mabel paused the movie, and Pacifica threw back the blanket over them. “Hey bro!” Mabel greeted, taking the laptop off her stomach and placing it to the side. “You’re back soon.”

“Soon?” He chuckled. “Mabel, it’s like nine at night.”

She squinted, looking around the dark room. “Ah! So it is!”

“What happened to you?” Pacifica asked him, a look of worry on her face as she smoothed down her hair. It was messed up from hours of lying on a pillow.

“Monster hunting.” Dipper answered. Mabel noticed then that her brother was covered in scratches and had a rash on his knee. Soos Jr stirred at the noise.

“Holy macaroni. You okay, Dipper?” She asked him.

He nodded. “Yeah, it put up a fight. But Tambry’s got a mean left hook. We really got to take her with us more often. You two should also come next time, it was fun.” Dipper shook pine needles out of his hair. “Oh and that monster I showed you on the bus? Turns out, not such a nice guy after all.”

“Aww!” Mabel frowned. “But he looked so sweet.” Soos Jr got up off Pacifica and jumped off the bed, trotting over to Dipper. Pacifica stopped looking at Dipper in concern for a moment to frown at the piglet leaving.

He snorted. “You’re such a nut.” Soos Jr bonked his head against Dipper’s shin and he looked down at his knee. “Hey, do you know if we have any Neosporin?”

“All the first aid stuffs in the downstairs bathroom. Need me?” Mabel moved to get out of the bed, making Peggy Freckles wake up as well.

Dipper waved her off. “It’s fine, I can find it.” He scooped up the piglet in his arms and looked at the open laptop sitting next to the girls on the floor. He frowned. “Mabel, don’t tell me you’ve been using that to watch cartoons again.”

“Dippppeerrr.” She whined. “Pacifica was a deprived child. She’s never even seen Star Wars!”

“That’s no reason- Wait.” He paused. “Seriously?”

Pacifica looked a little miffed. She didn’t like that they were talking about her like she wasn’t there. “Yeah. What of it? She said, a little defensively.

“That’s messed up. Okay, well just be careful with it.” He stood up and began leaving the room. “I’m going to go get cleaned up.”

“Kay!” Mabel called. “Wait! Have you seen Benjamin Franklin?”

“Yeah,” Dipper responded. “He and Grunkle Stan are asleep in front of the tv. Grunkle Stan actually had him on his lap! Can you believe it?” Dipper laughed. “Well, see you guys later.” He left the room.

“Miraculous.” Mabel whispered

Pacifica pulled the blanket back up over their heads.

“Why do you think I was a deprived child?” She asked, lowering her voice.

“Huh? Oh. I just meant because you haven’t seen all these classics. I didn’t mean anything by it.” Mabel frowned at her. “Why haven’t you seen all of these, by the way?”

Pacifica frowned. “My parents never let me watch anything but classy classic black and white films when I was a kid. They didn’t want me watch to watch ‘trivial simple folk entertainment.’”

“Whaaat?!” Mabel cried. “That’s so poop!”

Pacifica sat up, resting her chin on her knees. Peggy Freckles crawled out of Mabel’s hair nest and walked over the bed to her, staring up Pacifica.

“I didn’t get to do a lot of things when I was little. It was always “Pacifica Elise Northwest, don’t you tarnish your blue blood with that common garbage, this’ and ‘You are a Northwest, do you really want to embarrass your family, that.’” She looked lost in thought, petting Peggy absent-mindedly. “It made me think I was above anything but fancy imported things and exquisite vintage films, but I guess it also made me miss out on a lot of stuff.”

Pacifica sighed. “I actually really like all this stuff you’re showing me.” Her expression softened a little. “Even the weird Japanese junk.”

“ _Especially_ the weird Japanese junk.” Mabel corrected her, waggling her finger. “Don’t you pretend you aren’t infatuated with Sailor Moon. I saw how much you loved it.”

She grinned. “Okay! But it’s your fault for making me like something so stupid.”

“Oh, I take full responsibility. Why do you think I invited you here today?” Mabel told her. “This was my plan all along. Now we’re in this nerd boat together, and I’m proud to be your looser captain.”

Pacifica started laughing and Mabel felt a rush of warmth run over her. There was something so sweet about her. Something so intimate about what they were doing. Pacifica might never admit it to her, she might not even know it, but Mabel had always thought she seemed kind of lonely. The way she talked about her parents, how she had always demanded to be the center of attention when they were younger.

Mabel had seen the inside of that huge manor up herself. She had seen bits of Pacifica room when they skyped. Everything looked so large, and shiny, and cold. There were only three people living in that mansion, and her parents, according to the Gravity Falls Gossiper, always seemed to be out of town at extravagant events.

It was like a fairytale. She was blessed with her beauty and her royalty, but cursed to be all alone in the house up on the hill.

But she wasn’t. Not anymore. The stoned face girl with the hoop earrings and the sneers, always with the cool kids at the mall and rolling her eyes at stupid jokes, was her friend now. Now she was lying beside her giggling at something silly Mabel said. Mabel was just… so happy she could see this side of her. That Pacifica could let her guard down like this. After all, isn’t that why she had fallen for her?

Mabel felt herself coil up a bit. She really… she really had fallen for her. Suddenly it felt weird being so close to her. Mabel felt her whole face heat up.

Pacifica had stopped laughing, and she looked at Mabel. “You look really hot.” She said. “Should I turn on the fan again?”

“Hmm?” Mabel looked at the electric mini-fan they had situated under the blanket. “Yeah.”

Pacifica reached over her to turn it on, and Mabel flushed even harder. Pacifica was leaning on her, their faces so close and sides pressed together. She was lucky it only lasted a few moments otherwise she might have just died of crushed insides right then and there.

“I’m going to get the laptop too, I wanna finish the movie.” Pacifica told her, lifting up the blanket to grab the computer.

Mabel distracted herself by grabbing a skittles package from the bag of candy hanging from one of the four bed posts. She munched on it thoughtfully and looked around the blanket fort. Waddles sniffed at her hand and she gave him a candy too.

“Hey, Pacifica.” She said, thinking something disturbing that had crossed her mind earlier.

Pacifica was balancing the laptop onto her bent knees. “Yeah?”

“This is your first sleepover. Isn’t it?” She asked.

Pacifica grimaced, then nodded. “Yeah. You caught me.” She fiddled with the placement of the computer.

Mabel tried to ignore that might be the saddest thing she had ever heard.

“Did the whole showing up in a night gown give it away?” Pacifica asked.

“Kinda.” Mabel poured out the package onto her lap and began making rainbows with the colorful candies. It was difficult because Peggy kept pushing them over. “Also because I was thinking your parents seem kind of strict.”

Pacifica was silent for a moment. She frowned as if she was concentrating on something. “You know what,” She said. “They totally are.” Pacifica gave a sort of surprised “huh” before continuing. “I wouldn’t have thought so. I mean, they let me have anything I want. But, like, only if it fits their image of this perfect daughter.”

Pacifica looked even madder as she realized this. “You’re right! I’m not allowed to do anything! I’m not allowed to lose, or get the house messy, or watch what _I_ wanted to watch, or get my clothes dirty, or hang out with anyone whose not rich.” Her voice got louder. “I can’t even /wear/ something if it isn’t in season! I had to wait years to get the haircut that _I_ wanted!”

Mabel’s eyes widened. She was breathing heavily, even shaking with anger. Like every little thing she was denied throughout her life had all hit her at once. Unsure what to do, Mabel placed her hand on her shoulder, giving her a reassuring squeeze.

“You know what?!” Pacifica said again, this time much louder. She turned to Mabel, a determined expression on her face. “Screw it! Let’s go trick-or-treating!”

Mabel could _feel_ her own eyes sparkling at that.

Pacifica’s conviction seemed to dampen. “I mean, if you want to.” She hesitated.

“Of course I want to!” Mabel cried. “Eeee! Pacifica! This is fantastic!” Mabel ran a hand through her hair. “Oh man oh man. I got to think of what we should be! We should dress up together! Oh, and I’ll have to plan our route!” She began to mutter excitedly.

Pacifica chuckled. “Okay, calm down. Let’s just hurry up and get back to this movie. I want to know how it ends.”

#

Mabel didn’t know what time it was. Well, she hadn’t been aware of what time it was since the third episode of Sailor Moon. All she knew is that it was very late. Dipper and Benjamin Franklin had come up and gone to bed, she had changed into her oversize Radical Kittens Skateboarding shirt and Pacifica was finally wearing her nightgown at the appropriate time.

Mabel had set up the sleeping bag on the floor while Dipper did his night reading and while Pacifica watched her, laughing. Pacifica had stopped laughing, however, the minute she realized Mabel _wasn’t_ joking about her sleeping on the floor and that was actually something poor people did when visiting other poor peoples houses.

Mabel was too nice, and Pacifica was too scared of potential floor bugs, and that was how she had wound up on the floor while her guest was in her bed.

They hadn’t slept though. Not at all.

Which is what brought them to now, lying there in the dark with their eyes open. Dipper had just shushed them for the umpteenth time and they had been quiet for a few moments after before deciding he was asleep and going right back to making what was, in their opinion, soft noise and conversation until he shushed them again.

The heat of the summer day had finally cooled off awhile ago, and now the cold of night had set in. Their warm blankets were pulled over them and they were both cozy in the silence of the night.

Mabel started laughing.

“Why are you laughing?” Pacifica whispered.

Mabel laughed harder.

Pacifica began to laugh too. “Why?” She asked, chuckling.

She let out a shriek of laughter, covering her mouth with her hands. “Because,” she said in-between giggles breathlessly. “Think about everything that’s funny in the world. Everything that’s ever happened. Everything that’s happening _right now._ ”

“Oh.” Pacifica laughed again. Then she stopped, and frowned. “But, Mabel.”

“Yeah?” She asked.

“Mabel, think about how many of those things happening are sad.” Pacifica whispered, a pout on her face.

Mabel just laughed. “But Pacifica,” She said quietly.

“Yeah?’

“That’s funny too!”

Pacifica burst out laughing. “You’re right!” She snorted.

“OH. MY. GOD.” Dipper’s voice sounded from across the room. “I’ve been trying to sleep for _hours_. Can you please be quiet?!”

The girls’ laughter stopped instantly.

They were silent for about a minute.

Then,

“Hey, Pacifica.” Mabel whispered, “Are you awake?” It was near the hundredth time she had asked that.

“Yes,” Came the answer. “I feel really lightheaded though.”

“Me too.” Mabel admitted. She chewed her lip in thought. “Maybe it’s because we’ve just been eating candy?”

“Oh.” Pacifica answered.

There was another minute of silence.

“Mabel, I want food.” Pacifica told her.

“Yeah.” Mabel agreed. “Me too.” She pulled back the blanket and sat up straight. “Let’s go downstairs.”

Pacifica got up as well. The two tip-toed across the room and Mabel slowly opened the old creaking door. “We have to be really quiet.” She told Pacifica. “So we don’t wake up Dipper.”

“Actually, I’ve been awake for quite some time now, thanks to someone.” Dipper said, his voice absent of any grogginess and sounding totally alert.

Pacifica shushed him.

The two shut the door behind them. Then the made their ways softly and carefully down the stairs in the dark. Mabel shuffled along close to the wall, taking small steps in case she tripped over anything. Things were often thrown carelessly and haphazardly to the ground here.

It was a bit brighter in the living room, the windows letting in the moon light that displayed the furniture in pale blue hues. Mabel squinted her eyes, trying to adjust after near-darkness. She walked into the kitchen, where the light from the appliances made it even brighter in here. According to the green neon numbers glowing on the stove, it was ten minutes past three in the morning.

She flipped on the switch, and the whole place was suddenly bathed in the over-bearing aggressively bright florescent light.

Pacifica screwed her eyes shut for a moment before opening them again. Then she looked around the kitchen. “So, got any like caviar or lobsters or what?” She asked. “Or like… what was that thing you ate once? A tuco? That was pretty good.”

Mabel snorted. The flip side of someone who practiced piano for six hours everyday was showing again. “Nah, I got something better.” She said, walking to the cupboard and swinging it open. She pulled out a box and declared, “Bam! Stovetop mac and cheese!”

“What’s that?” Pacifica asked, hoisting herself up to sit on the counter.

Mabel wondered if she would ever get used to the subtle tragedy of what this girl had missed out on. “Only the food of the gods.” She assured her.

Mabel opened the fridge, and began pulling out the ingredients required just to be sure she had them. She lined them up on the counter, then looked around for a pot that didn’t seem too dirty before filling it with water and placing it on a stovetop burner. Then she went back to rummaging around the fridge for anything else they might want to eat and talking to Pacifica.

Ten minutes later she was mixing the noodles and sauce together. “I can make up jingles for anything. Right on the spot too. I’m really good.” She was telling Pacifica. “They’re really catchy.”

“Bull.” Pacifica said.

“No, really.” Mabel replied. “It’s scary how good I am. I should be famous. Or writing for commercials or something.”

“Oh really?” Her friend smirked. “Make up a little song for this mac and cheese stuff, if you’re so good.”

“Gladly.” Mabel replied smugly. She looked down at the noodles she was stirring. She shut off the stove and poured the finished food into two bowls. “ _Doo, doo doo_.” She sang. “ _Want the noodles? Doo doo doo, Eat em! Doo, doo doo, They got cheese too!”_

“Mabel, that is so bad.” Pacifica was shaking with laughter. “I’m embarrassed I know you.”

“Oh yeah?” Mabel asked, grabbing forks. “You won’t be so embarrassed once you taste my _amazing_ cooking.” She placed the bowls down at the table. Pacifica slid off the counter and walked over, pulling out a chair and sitting beside her.

Pacifica took a forkful and stared at it apprehensively before taking a bite.

“What do you think?” Mabel asked, her own mouth already full as she began shoveling food into it. She hadn’t realized the extent of her hunger until just now.

“Mm!” Pacifica exclaimed. “It is pretty good. I’m impressed.” Pacifica grinned mischievously. “Much better than your singing, anyway.”

“Hey!” Mabel said defensively, but she was smiling.

The two went back to eating, becoming too preoccupied with their hunger to keep talking. When they were finished with their firsts, their seconds, and finally their thirds, Mabel began cleaning up the kitchen. She was washing the dishes and Pacifica was sitting on the counter again, looking lost in thought.

“Hey, Mabel.” Pacifica said.

“Hm?” She responded, lathering the sponge with dish soap.

“I’ve been thinking,” She began. “I might have been acting weird yesterday. When you uh… when you came out to me.”

Mabel froze. She felt like all her blood had suddenly she turned to ice. “Oh?” She said, trying to sound normal.

“I didn’t mean to sound like I had a problem with it. Actually you just,” She was slouched over, her fingers gripping at the edge of the counter, eyes fixed on the floor. Her body language was really familiar to Mabel. She had been doing the exact same thing two days ago, after all. “It made me think of something I was trying _not_ to think about.”

Mabel paused. She hadn’t been expecting that.

Did… That mean what she thought it did? She looked at Pacifica, but she was just still staring at the floor.

Mabel ran her fingers under the water, checking to make sure it was hot. “That you might be…?” She asked her friend.

Pacifica cleared her throat. “Yeah, something like that.”

Mabel nodded. She wasn’t sure how to react. Something about her usual “Hurray! Your gay! Welcome to the team!” and throwing glitter in the air that she had done for others coming to out might not be appropriate right now. “Why were you trying not to think about it?” She was trying to keep the conversation going even though she was freaking out. Pacifica? _Gay?????_ (Maybe?)

“I don’t know.” Pacifica said. Her voice sounded stiff, like she was trying hard not to let any emotion out. “Or, I guess I do. I’ve never-“ She stopped. “I mean. I guess-“ She took a deep breath. “It took me by surprise. Lately I’ve just sort of had these feelings… for this- for this one girl. You, uh. She’s just a girl, you don’t know her. And…” She shook her head. “I don’t know.” She sounded so numb.

Mabel did her best to ignore that last second to last sentence. She didn’t need to analyze what it meant right now, she just needed to do something for her friend. “You know,” She started washing their bowls. “It wasn’t easy for me. It wasn’t like I woke up one day and said ‘Hello, world! I’m pansexual now!’. It was a sixteen year process of trying to figure it out. And I mean, it’s still a process. Opening up to people and finding out more about who I am and what I want. It takes time. It’s really confusing at first, but it does get better. I promise.”

Pacifica nodded, but she still looked so lost. Mabel frowned. She felt like her heart was breaking with empathy. She had to cheer her up. “Well, look on the bright side.” Mabel told her. “At least when you figure it out, you’ll know I will accept you for whoever you turn out to be. And so would Dipper, and your parents and-“

Pacifica snorted with laughter, but it didn’t sound like the kind from before. It sounded bitter.

“My parents? Being okay with it? Good one, Mabel!” Pacifica practically spat. “Yeah freaking right.”

Mabel looked up from the dishes. “I’m confused.” She confessed. “I thought they were super pro-LGBT. It was all over the Gravity Falls Gossiper when the sheriff Blubs and deputy Durland got married.”

“Mabel, there is a really big difference between people saying what people what to hear,” Pacifica told her harshly. “And people who would never be okay with their daughter being anything but perfect and _normal._ ”

Mabel felt frustrated. “Pacifica, being gay doesn’t make you _not normal-_ “

 **“ _IT DOES!_ "** She shouted back. Her volume was so loud, even with their conversation steadily getting more heated. It made Mabel jump and the dishes in her hand fell out, splashing hot water up on her.

“I… It does.” Pacifica said again, softer. “Straight girls don’t have to come out. Straight girls don’t have their sexuality gossiped about in a paper. They don’t need to feel as confused as I do, or as scared or…” Her voice broke.

Pacifica cleared her throat, and when she spoke again her voice was back to being cool, collected, and emotionless. "I mean if I am." She corrected. "I don't even think that I'm gay. Let's just drop it, okay?” She swung her legs back and forth. “Sorry I even brought it up.”

Mabel shut off the sink and walked over to where her friend sat alone on the counter. Pacifica looked down at her. Mabel saw just how much pain she was in. She opened her mouth to say something to her, thought of nothing, then closed it. Instead she wordlessly wrapped her arms around Pacifica’s waist.

"Your my friend, Pacifica." She mumbled, trying not to cry as she held her tightly. "And I want you to be okay."

Pacifica was taken aback by the hug, like she was with all physical contact Mabel surprised her with. It was a bit of an awkward position, so all Pacifica could do was wrap her arms around her shoulders and rest her chin on top of her head. "Thanks." She whispered back.

"I'm here if you need to talk." Mabel softly told her. "So please, please talk to me."

Pacifica felt her eyes water up. "I know. I will, okay? Just give me... give me some time."

"You're not alone." Mabel said. "You’re not alone, I promise." That was the last thing she could tell her before Pacifica buried her face in her hair and started shaking. Mabel let her cry, saying nothing and rubbing small circles on her lower back.

Pacifica was almost entirely silent, only letting out the occasional tiny sob as Mabel felt her tears on her shoulder. Pacifica had been holding this inside her for a long time, and Mabel allowed her to just let it out.

After the hug Pacifica looked away awkwardly. She said something about being really tired and Mabel said something about doing the dishes later, and then they both said something about going back upstairs.

After shutting off the lights they made their way back the room. It was devoid of any sound besides that of a family of pigs quietly dreaming and the breathing of a boy who was fast asleep. Pacifica went back into Mabel's bed, and after a simple "Good night." and an awkward, but heartfelt smile, she was lying on her side and it wasn't long before her breathing sounded just like Dipper's.

But not Mabel's.

She lay on the floor, eyes up on the ceiling. Her pig was curled up on her stomach and two piglets cuddled on her feet, but they brought her no comfort.

She was worried about Pacifica. She was her friend, and she cared about her, and she was clearly going through a hard time. Her confession had really surprised her. She often had stupid daydreams about Pacifica that started out with her coming out to her and ended with them riding off into the sunset. But this was something she had never wanted to happen. She had never seen Pacifica like that before.

But now that she had said what she could, and that Pacifica was fast asleep with Peggy Freckles lying in her arms to keep her safe, Mabel allowed herself to be selfish.

She thought over and over and over about what Pacifica said. The soft and shy little words just kept spinning around like a song left on repeat for far too long.

_"I've been having feelings for one this girl."_

Pacifica had a crush.

_“Just a girl.”_

Maybe she was even in love.

_“You don’t know her.”_

With some other girl.

Mabel didn't know what to do.


	5. A Heart Full of Envy

Stan had woken up with a smile on his face.

Summer was his favorite time of year. No need to run the expensive heater, no need to waste his time shoveling piles of snow out of his yard, and best of all, it was the prime time for tourists to come in droves to the shack. They were always just in time for the 30% increase in prices. Sorry Sir, it’s just the holiday expenses. What can you do?

He poured his coffee, piping hot and perfectly brewed before his busy day draining wallets. He took a sip, leaning down on the kitchen counter and looking out the window into the woods. He smiled to himself. There was another reason he loved the summer, but he would have to find himself hard-pressed to admit it aloud.

It was always nice to have his grand niece and nephew visiting. And it seemed like the older they got, the better the fun. He and Dipper didn’t argue as much as they used to, and Mabel was just getting more and more interesting to talk to. Plus, now that they were teenagers they slept in so late he didn’t need to worry about making them breakfast!

People always liked to talk about how moody teenagers were, but those two seemed to be just fine. And for all the worry that had come with Dipper’s warning, about his recently out-of-the-closet-great-niece being extra crazy and lovesick and _loud_ than usual, there hadn’t been any incidents so far.

The sound of someone in the kitchen pulled him from his thoughts. Stan turned his view from the window to see that snobby blonde girl whose parents reportedly owned half the town. She was wearing pants with an ugly pattern, a shirt he didn’t understand, and shoes that made his feet feel uncomfortable just looking at them.

He supposed he couldn’t say she wore too much make up for her age anymore, as she was the age most girls started wearing make up now. But he could say she was wearing way too much for this early in the morning. Or perhaps just too much period. Her heavy-lidded eyes just made her usual scowl look even more prominent and unpleasant.

“I was, uh-“ She looked at unshaven legs with distaste. “Was trying to find the way out.”

“Door’s that way.” He gestured towards it.

She nodded, but said no word of thanks, and just rolled her little suitcase behind her as she left the kitchen.

Sometimes he didn’t understand how she was his niece’s friend. But then again, his niece had brought home several animals and claimed that _they_ were her dear friends. He had let her keep the pig because it was the smallest and most convenient of them, and okay. Maybe he had a bit of a soft spot for it, which is why he agreed to take care of it since her parents wouldn’t let her take it home.

However, the deer, the goat, and the three mountain lions she had brought in on different occasions had not been tolerated. Regardless of how many times she pleaded that she needed to bond with them and give them makeovers.

So, it wasn’t that odd when she made unlikely friends with certain townsfolk. However, it just seemed like Atlanica Southeast or whatever her name was seemed like the most unlikely choice. Didn’t she use to tease the twins and bully Mabel?

Well, okay. That was years ago. And she seemed to get along fairly well with both of the twins. Sometimes he even saw her _smiling_ when she with his niece. It was such a shocking change from her usual glowers and sneers he was so accustomed to seeing in news reports he didn’t care about and social events he didn’t want to be at.

As long as Mabel was happy, he supposed that was enough. Even if he didn’t understand it. Heck, he didn’t understand most of what that girl did anyway. She truly was a special kid.

Stan heard a car driving away in the distance and was relieved that the girl had opted for a more normal method of transport. He wasn’t sure he could handle the noisiness of the helicopter again, especially so loud in the morning.

He poured himself another cup of coffee, even though he was feeling awake. He just was enjoying the flavor. He sat down at the breakfast table and looked at the newspaper he had collected off his front porch just a little earlier. It really was a terrific morning.

Then, without warning the most horrible, piercing sound filled the air. If it were just a few hertz higher, it may have shattered glass. As it was, it caused his hearing aids to give back shrill feedback, adding to the deafening sound surrounding him.

He yanked them out just as the sound stopped. However, before he could even breath a sigh of relief, it started again. This time a lower, much more angry sound that seemed as if it was somewhat muffled. But not nearly enough to stop his ear drums from feeling they were being played like a drum set.

#

Mabel screamed into her pillow for the third time. It was the quieter than the previous ones, only loud enough to alert forest animals just near the vicinity of the house instead of in a two mile radius.

Dipper had a rude awakening 0.01 seconds into the first scream and had made his way across the bedroom. He grabbed his sister by her shoulder and gave her a shake. “Mabel!” He shouted her name. “What the heck is going on?!”

She pulled her face from her pillow and looked at her brother with bleary eyes. “Oh.” Her voice sounded really hoarse. No surprises there. “You could hear that?” She asked.

“Mabel, I think Antarctica could hear that.” He said, slapping his hand to his face. “It’s way too early for this.” He grumbled, then sat down next to her on her bed. “Okay. What’s the matter?”

“Pacifica likes a g-“ Mabel stopped herself. It wasn’t her place to reveal what gender that person was to Dipper. That was Pacifica’s choice to do it of her own will and in her own time. “Some guy.” She grumbled. She gave another exasperated noise and flopped down onto the pillows.

Dipper raised his eyebrows. “So?” He asked. “You’ve liked guys too. _Lots_ of guys.”

“I can’t help that I’m jealous.” She said with a grumpy pout.

“Come on, Mabel. You’ve French-kiseed everyone in our school’s GSA except me, but you still have time for your friends.” He punched his sister on the arm. “Just because Pacifica might get a boyfriend doesn’t mean she won’t have time for you, right?”

Mabel turned her head away from him, staring at the wall with a fixed glare. She scrunched up her nose and narrowed her eyes to slits. Had she been in a police line-up with a bunch of toddlers throwing tantrums she would have been unidentified. She shook her head back and forth slowly, physically saying “NO.”

Dipper noticed his sister’s expression. “Ohhh.” He said as if he suddenly understood. “You like the same guy as her?” He clicked his tongue. “That’s a tough one.” Mabel’s scrunched up her nose even tighter and shook her head again.

Dipper gave his sister’s shoulder what he hoped felt like a re-assuring squeeze. “You know, it might hurt now Mabel but you’ll be over him soon enough. Your crushes have never last more than two weeks Just keep your head high and try to focus on moving on. It’s not worth loosing a friend over, right?”

Mabel, once again, shook her head. Dipper just stared at her in confusion. Maybe he was misunderstanding something? He looked at his twin sister and tried to figure out what he was missing.

Then it dawned on him.

“Oh.” He said. “ _Oohhh_. _You_ have a crush on _Pacifica._ ” Without a change in expression Mabel nodded.

Dipper was quiet. A memory flash through his mind, and he had a disturbing thought. “Mabel,” Dipper began slowly, his voice calm but with a panic underneath that could just barely be heard. “When we were fifteen you told me you thought Pacifica was kind of cute.” He sounded really uncertain and worried. “Did you… have a crush on her then?”

Mabel, still making that horrible scrunched up face, nodded once more.

“Did you ever stop having that crush on her?”

Mabel didn’t make any form of response.

“Have you liked her for _two years_???” Dipper asked, sounding utterly shocked.

“Oh, Dipper!” She cried, rolling over in the bed to face him. “I mean I always thought she was kind of cute but not in a serious way or anything but the longer I knew her the nicer she seemed to get and the prettier she seemed to get and then out of nowhere-“

“Last summer.” Dipper finished, nodding at the memory.

“Last summer.” Mabel agreed.

#

A long time ago, four years ago, standing infront of the Northwest Manor gates and just outside the car door; Pacifica was standing there in her v-neck and white skirt with the sticker Mabel had given her sticking to her left breast pocket. ”Oh. And, Mabel? I can’t believe I’m say this,” She hesitated. “But… I had fun.”

Ever since that night Mabel hadn’t been able to look at her the same way. When Mabel had first met her what she had seen was a fun-loving party queen like herself, maybe a girl she could get along with and be best friends with in this new town. But then Pacifica turned out to be not a nice person at all, and that idea was shattered. But after that fateful game of mini-golf, that door of possibility seemed to have swung itself open again. Maybe they could be friends.

But then, the next time they saw each other, Pacifica wasn’t much different. Sure, she wasn’t trying to hurt anyone’s feelings on purpose now, but she was just as sarcastic and rude. She had made it very clear she didn’t have the patience for Mabel, and she definitely wasn’t interested in making friends.

So, Mabel did something she didn’t usually do. She gave up, and just focused on enjoying the rest of her wacky summer with her friends and family. Then, come fall, she went back home without giving Pacifica another thought.

The next summer, they were thirteen. Dipper and Mabel were particularly interested in enjoying themselves, because this was their last summer before they were highschoolers, and both were feeling anxious but excited. Sometimes they went looking for trouble, sometimes trouble found them, but all in all it was a much less eventful vacation than their previous one. Mabel didn’t even see Pacifica that year. Sometimes she thought of her, but only rarely and not for very long.

Then, after a terrifying, wonderful, horrible and overall just plain exhausting first year of highschool; at fourteen years old the twins were relived beyond belief to be back in Gravity Falls. It was around this time Mabel had started to notice more things, mostly how darn cute everyone was, especially girls. So when she had bumped into Pacifica when they were shopping in town, she knew that her eyebrows raising had more to do with just being surprised to see this girl after two years.

Dipper had waved to her. She scoffed, about to turn around when recognition flashed across her face. “Don’t I, like, know you guys?” She asked them, flipping her long hair back behind her shoulder.

Mabel tried to respond, but was so distracted by that beautiful blonde hair and piercing stare she just ended up biting her tongue. Instead, Dipper told her, “It’s nice to see you too, Pacifica.”

She tilted her head to the side. “Oh!” She said. “You guys are the Pines twins, aren’t you! I thought you were like, dead or something.”

“Apparently we’re not.” Dipper responded, sounding and looking annoyed.

She shrugged. “I just hadn’t seen you in like three years.”

“We don’t.” Mabel said. “We don’t live in this Oregon, no.” Mabel’s words fell out in a jumble. Pacifica didn’t seem to notice, getting distracted by her phone.

“Well, maybe I’ll see you guys around or whatever.” She told them, looking up once more before she waved and walked away.

She did, but it wasn’t until a whole year later. Mabel and Dipper were fifteen and the second of the two was wearing too much eyeliner. The first of the two was feeling very, very confused about the level of attraction she was feeling towards boys and girls and everyone in between or outside that description. It was around this time she was wondering if she was lesbian, but something just didn’t seem right about that.

This year the Northwests had needed some more hired supernatural help to get rid of a pesky mansion-dwelling gremloblin. This time, no party to attend instead, Mabel tagged along. Pacifica didn’t go on the actual hunt, but after the twins had found a way to re-locate it to the forest, she came to give them what they had asked for in exchange. (Dipper, a very expensive and hard to obtain super HD camera that wasn’t even available for commercial sale yet, and for Mabel; rare, collectible, and antique scratch and sniff stickers.)

“Ohmygosh!!!” Mabel practically tore the bag from Pacifica’s arms. “Thank you so much!!!”

“Dipper I’d like to say this is the lamest thing you could have asked for,” Pacifica wrinkled her nose handing him the bag that he took with trembling hands. “But I think Mabel’s is worse.”

Mabel dropped to her knees and placed the bag on the ground, rummaging through the contents with shrieks of excitement and the occasional “No way!!! Rainbow scented moose stickers circa 1932?! I thought these were just a legend!”

Dipper couldn’t even form words, just making unintelligible noises and taking various photos of everything. Pacifica watched the two with a fearful expression.

Once the twins had calmed down, enough to converse anyway, they made a bit of idle chit-chat. At one point Dipper had said, “Hey maybe sometime we can hang out on non-business terms.” He was just trying to be polite and make conversation, so he was shocked by Pacifica’s response.

“Sure, what day?” She said. “I’d need to check my schedule. But we could like, mini-golf or something.” She saw their horrified faces. “No! Not at _that_ course!” She shuddered. “No. Never again. I actually meant we just got our own private course at the manor.”

Mabel’s face brightened. “That sounds fantastic!” She said, more than a little too loud. She pulled her phone out of her pocket and flipped it open. “Want my number? You can give us a call after you find out what day!”

“Nice phone.” Pacifica snorted. “Yeah, okay.”

They exchanged numbers, Pacifica laughed at their phones a few more times, and then they left the grand gates and made their way down the hill on foot.

“I can’t believe she actually wanted to hang out.” Dipper said, camera in his hands still snapping pictures of miscanellous things on the walk home. He was probably just going to delete them all later.

“Yeah…” Mabel mumbled.

Dipper took a picture of his sister and she winced at the intense flash. He looked at the photo and noticed her expression, cheeks flushed and eyes lost in thought. He looked up from the camera “You okay?” He asked.

“I’m fine.” She told him. “I just… she’s kind of cute isn’t she?”

“I guess, if you say so.” Dipper took a picture of a bird. The flash was so intense the creature screwed its eyes shut and cried out, causing it to crash into a tree.

A week later, they went up to the Northwest Manor for the fourth time in their life. Pacifica led them through the mansion, various large, grand, and empty rooms. The only people besides themselves were the occasional hired staff cleaning away. Mabel couldn’t help but frown at the sight of the shiny and cold wooden floors.

After what felt like quite a bit of winding spiral staircases and long hallways Pacifica opened what looked like the grand doors of a church or cathedral to reveal a ballroom-sized not-so-mini golf course.

It was unbelievably impressive, including giant spinning windmills and an entire water section with an animatronic whale. The Pines twins’ jaws dropped and all they could do is stare with disbelief and amazement. “So, we doing this or not?” Pacifica asked, handing them mini-clubs.

The game was a little awkward, their conversations often having lulls. Usually when Dipper or Mabel made a pop culture reference or a pun or any sort of joke and Pacifica just stared them down, unamused. Plus, Pacifica was a little too competitive and a little too honest and loud about Dipper’s lack of mini-golf talent.

Mabel and her might have had a fair fight, but Mabel kept getting distracted and looking at Pacifica and flushing. She kept doing stupid things like hitting the ball against her foot and tripping or striking out. So, Pacifica annihilated them pretty efficiently. Luckily, she wasn’t an obnoxious winner like they had feared, and they never got to experience if she was a sore loser.

After the game she had servants bring them food. They ate, had some more awkward silence, then they somehow all ended up splashing each other in the water level, wading knee-dip in the indoor lake-themed pool obstacle. Mabel managed to mount the animatronic whale, which she stood atop while using her club to spray water at Pacifica and her brother.

Despite the handful of uncomfortable moments, when they waved goodbye, all three sopping wet, Mabel was glad they came and sad that they had to part. Because it was so near the end of the summer, when Pacifica suggested they hang out again, the Pines twins informed her that they probably wouldn’t get another chance to come see her. Mabel suggested they continue texting though, to which Pacifica responded. “I’ll definitely keep in touch.”

At that point Mabel shouldn’t have been surprised when Pacifica always texted her back, but she still was surprised. And happy. Their conversations quickly progressed from “How are you? Good. That’s good.” To “Pacifica I know you said you would hire someone to assassinate me if I sent you even one more measly meme (MEMEsly?), but I’m sorry you have to see this.”

Soon they started talking just about everyday, their conversations only ending when one of them drifted asleep, phone still in their hand. Pacifica would text Mabel from under the table to tell her about how _boring_ dinner parties were, and Mabel would text her during class to tell her about how she wanted to train lizards to do pull-ups and wear little sweatbands.

Mabel had her own room in their home in Piedmont, so she was free to sit cross-legged on her bed, the laptop her parents had bought her for school perched on her lap, skyping Pacifica until the sun rose in the morning or until Pacifica dozed off right on webcam.

Somewhere along the way, Mabel noticed just how sweaty palms her palms got and just how hard her heart would pound. She couldn’t really deny it, Pacifica Northwest was a god damn cutie. A cutie Mabel wanted to smooch.

#

Mabel gushed all this out very quickly, giving Dipper a comprehensive and in-depth review of her feelings for Pacifica throughout the past four years.

Dipper thought back to her comment yesterday, about Pacifica’s beautiful blonde hair (and piglet-like laughter). Dipper thought back to a _lot_ of comments Mabel had made. Suddenly a lot of her behavior lately, that he had just considered typical weird Mabel, made sense to him.

His sister looked miserable, bundled up in the blankets and pouting. He couldn’t believe she had a crush last so long. Usually when she was being dramatic about a crush he just thought she was being unreasonable, because it never seemed like a big deal. And yeah, she was still being overdramatic now, but he had a lot more sympathy for her. Dipper sighed.

“Mabel, remember how crazy about Wendy I used to be?” He asked her.

A smile played at her lips. “How could anyone forget? I’m _still_ airing the stench of desperation out of my clothes.”

Dipper laughed sarcastically. “Ha ha, hilarious. Anyway, I’m just saying I know how you feel. It really sucks liking someone so much but knowing deep down that you’re never going to be able to be with them in the way you want to.” Mabel looked up at him, giving him her full attention.

“And the only thing that could ever make it worse, is them being your friend. Especially a close friend, because you don’t want to ruin the friendship or make things awkward.” Mabel nodded.

“How did you deal with it?” She asked.

Dipper laughed nervously. “I didn’t really, I mostly just moped around or made bad choices and let my fantasies get the better of me. But I think what you need to do, and what I should have done, is just accept things the way they are.”

Mabel frowned. “But that’s haaarddd.” She whined.

“I know. But just try to focus on moving on, and don’t hung up on her. Focus on being a good friend, and try to accept that you’re not going to be anything more than that. And that that’s okay.” She sat up slowly.

“You’re right,” She pushed her hair back. “Thanks, Dipper.”

He nodded. “Anytime, sis.” She still looked so sad, he reached out to her and put his arm around her shoulder. “It might hurt now, but it won’t last forever.”

She rested her head against his shoulder. “Just focus on being a good friend…” Mabel mumbled, repeating his words.

“I think that would be what’s best.” He told her. “I think Pacifica really needs a friend.”

She nodded against his shoulder. “Thank you, Dipper.” She said again.

“Hey, I’m here for you.” He told her.

Their bedroom door creaked open, and Waddles tentatively trotted into the room, three piglets walking in a line behind him. They had all bolted out of the room at Mabel’s scream that morning, but seemed to have thought is safe enough to come back.

Dipper gave her shoulder one last squeeze before taking his arm off her. “And now that _they_ are here for you,” He stood up. “I think _I_ am going to go back to sleep.”

Mabel chuckled, reaching down to scoop up Waddles. She lay back down, cradling the pig in her arms, occasionally giving him a kiss on the forehead. The piglets snuggled against her shoulders and she stared at the ceiling, thinking about the advice her brother just gave her.

Pacifica Northwest _was_ her friend first and foremost, and she was going through a tough time. She _really_ needed someone there for her right now, and Mabel might be the only friend of hers who was close enough to be confided in _and_ understand just what she was going through. She sighed. She needed to put aside her unrequited love for the girl, and like Dipper said, focus on being a friend. For Pacifica and for herself.

She didn’t have time to be moping around, anyway. She had a very important event that she should be planning and preparing for. Mabel rolled over on her side, careful not to disturb Waddles, and grabbed her phone off of the bedside table.

Because it was apparently “irresponsible” to throw her phone in various liquids to see if it would float as well as lend it to neighborhood animals, Dipper got a brand new smart phone knock-off, she was stuck with an old flip phone. It was glitchy and barely got any service, especially here in some small town in the middle of corduroy roads and road kill Oregon.

She booted it up, which took about two minutes, then scrolled through her contacts. It took her another two minutes to effectively send a message, constantly tilting her phone back and forth and holding her arm at various angles to try and get the signal that kept blipping in and out. When she finally did find a constant signal, she held it there and waited for a reply.

#

**TheTrueGlitterQueen: hey friend!!! how r U doing??! :D**

**Life-In-Lavender: omfg Mabel, I cannot believe u got that crappy little thing to work long enough to even send me a coherent message.**  
**Life-In-Lavender: if that like… counts as coherent.**

**TheTrueGlitterQueen: haha i am good with technology! BUTT… how R U? >:O?**

**Life-In-Lavender: tbh never been hungover but I think this may be what it feels like.**

**TheTrueGlitterQueen: more lik FUNOVER.**  
**TheTrueGlitterQueen: :DD???**

**Life-In-Lavender: OMG**  
**Life-In-Lavender: NO.**  
**Live-In-Lavender: how do u even have this much energy?**

**TheTrueGlitterQueen: embrace the FUNOVER pez-cifica!**  
**TheTrueGlitterQueen: anyway… NOT IMPROTANT...**  
**TheTrueGlitterQueen: i txted u for SERIOUS reasons >:D**  
**TheTrueGlitterQueen: perhaps…SUMMERWEEN RELATED?!**  
**TheTrueGlitterQueen: ?!?!**

**Life-In-Lavender: oh. right. i agreed to that.**  
**Life-In-Lavender: im not even going to eat any candy, u know.**

**TheTrueGlitterQueen: okay… u just sealed urself as the PERFECT trick o treatin partner.**  
**TheTrueGlitterQueen: (becuz i will eat the candy.)**

**Life-In-Lavender: yep.**  
**Life-In-Lavender: got that.**

**TheTrueGlitterQueen: anyway!!!!!…!!**  
**TheTrueGlitterQueen: i have thought up the BEST POSSIBLE!! :D! IDEA. for costumers :3c**  
**TheTrueGlitterQueen: GUESS. :D**

**Life-In-Lavender: oh.**  
**Life-In-Lavender: uhm…**

**TheTrueGlitterQueen: SAILORS….wait for it…**  
**TheTrueGlitterQueen: JUPITER…and…VENUS!**  
**TheTrueGlitterQueen: :3c???**

**Life-In-Lavender: is it going to be-**  
**Life-In-Lavender: oh!!!**  
**Life-In-Lavender: i actually really like that!**  
**Life-In-Lavender: i’m guessing i’m venus and you’re jupiter?**

**TheTrueGlitterQueen: bingo!!**  
**TheTrueGlitterQueen: sooo….ill get to work on costumes?!1! >:3**

**Life-In-Lavender: u could make them?**  
**Life-In-Lavender: shouldn’t we buy them?**

**TheTrueGlitterQueen: naw. store bought cosplay always looks really cheap.**

**Life-In-Lavender: cosplay?**

**TheTrueGlitterQueen: ah...**  
**TheTrueGlitterQueen: i have much to teach u :o**  
**TheTrueGlitterQueen: anyhowzer….**  
**TheTrueGlitterQueen: yep ill make them! i think all we need to buy is hair extensions now that ur hairs short now : >**  
**TheTrueGlitterQueen: (and super cute!!!!! <3 <3)**

**Life-In-Lavender: can’t believe I’m saying this but ngl.**  
**Life-In-Lavender: this is going to be awesome.**

**TheTrueGlitterQueen: :D!!!!!!**

**Life-In-Lavender: i gotta go though.**  
**Life-In-Lavender: im ttly going to pass out.**

**TheTrueGlitterQueen: ok!!! have fun!!!! :D!**

**Life-In-Lavender: umm? k?**  
**Life-In-Lavender: cya Mabel.**

**TheTrueGlitterQueeen: yep yep C: cya!!!**

#

Mabel took a deep breath in and shut her phone. She looked down to her pig and nuzzled her nose against his snout, grinning widely. She was already feeling a little better. Maybe this whole “getting over a two year crush” wouldn’t be that hard.


	6. Lazy Sunday

Mabel sat outdoors, legs tucked beneath her on the pine-needle covered forest floor. Her back was leaning against the base of a tree trunk and her pig was happily lying in her lap on his back, snoring in his sleep and kicking his back legs occasionally as she rubbed his tummy. Her second best friends in the world sat across from her, two piglets in Grenda’s lap and little Benjamin Franklin in Candy’s. They had been sent outside due to _”excessive giggling.”_

It was a nice time of day, early enough to still be sunny but late enough to be oh so pleasantly cool despite the summer heat. Grenda was holding a magazine and talking, (loudly, as always) about her new boy band crush who was being featured in it.

“He’s a real dreamboat.” She said, “According to the interview he said he’s very shy and nervous.” Her volume raised a few notches. “Doesn’t he sound adorable?”

Candy adjusted her glasses, looking at the magazine cover. “I don’t think someone who is shy would wear skin-tight sequin leggings and no shirt.”

“Darn it, Candy!” Grenda pulled the magazine back. “You don’t get him. He’s a complicated man!” She sighed, dreamily. “He’s deep.”

Candy rolled her eyes, then turned to Mabel. “So Mabel, we haven’t seen you all summer. Tell us about your new crushes.”

Mabel beamed. She had been in Gravity Falls for about a week, but this was her first time getting some real girl time with her gal pals. It was nice just to kick back and relax with them. Especially since it felt like she was coming out to a different person every single day. But, Candy and Grenda already knew. 

Their bond was one built upon a solid foundation of trust, reliability, communication, and squealing over people they found cute. Candy and Grenda were the first to hear of any person she thought attractive (well the first to _listen_ , Dipper was the first to hear it but he usually just ignored her ranting and ravings about the booty.) So of course they were well up to speed on her attractions, therefore her sexual identity.

“Well…” Mabel started, twirling one of her pigtails in her hands. “I’ve told you guys a bit about this on and off and I know you don’t wanna hear this but…” She smiled, her cheeks heating up. “You have to admit Pacifica Northwest is at least a _little_ pretty. Right?”

Candy sighed, shaking her head. “Mabel, Mabel, Mabel” was all she said.

Grenada crossed her arms. “She’s pretty pretty. When she’s not being a butt.”

Mabel wrapped her pigtails under her chin and frowned. “You guys won’t give her a chance. Don’t you think she should be forgiven for bad behavior from when she was _twelve_?”

Candy looked resigned. “Sure, we could forgive her from four years ago. And three years ago. And two years ago. And for her comment at your party last week.”

“The problem is Mabel, we have to keep forgiving her.” Grenda told her. “Because she keeps hurting our feelings.”

Mabel put her pigtails against her face like a well-endowed handlebar mustache and frowned. “I guess you’re right, she can still be kind of mean. But she doesn’t _mean_ to be, you know what I mean?”

“She’s your friend, Mabel.” Candy shrugged. “We might not understand why, but we don’t have to like her. We don’t want to stop you from being her friend, we’re just worried you’re going to get hurt by her.”

She blew a disheartened raspberry, her hair blowing up off her face. “I think she kind of already did hurt me.” Her pigtails slid off her face, along with her pretend-mustache. “But it’s not her fault, she can’t help it if her feelings aren’t mutual.”

“Aww.” Grenda cooed, “Sounds like someone needs a comfort-hug from her gal pals.” Mabel pouted, giving a nod, and that was all the conformation they needed before Mabel found herself tightly wrapped in a four arm squeeze.

“It’s okay,” Mabel said when they pulled apart. “I’m going to be okay. Thanks guys.”

“Do you want to talk about it?” Candy asked, taking off her very fogged glasses and wiping them on her slightly greasy shirt.

Mabel raised her shoulders and lowered them with a neutral expression. She had gotten all her big theatrical hysterics out of the way yesterday, now she was just feeling mostly numb with a little lingering sadness. “I just really liked her, and it turned out she kinda likes someone else.”

Mabel pet Waddles, who was still snoozing after also being squeezed in the high-quality, extra-strength comfort hug. “I’m just bummed that I’m not going to have the relationship I wanted to have with her, so Dipper suggested I should just focus on enjoying the one I _do_ have with her.” She smiled lopsidedly and uncertainty. “It was pretty good advice, so right now I’m just trying to be excited about going trick-or-treating.”

Candy and Grenda both suddenly paused in their fawning over the piglets. They flinched at her words and looked up at her nervously. Their eyes were wide and fixated on her. Mabel noticed, straightening up.

“What’s the matter?” She asked them.

A bead of sweat ran down Grenda’s temple, she looked at Candy who was looking back with pursed lips. They gave the slightest nod and turned back to Mabel. “Mabel…” Candy started, very slow and careful. She needed to be as gentle as possible. “Grenda and I think that… well-“

“Mabel! We don’t want to go trick-or-treating!” Grenda burst out. Candy wiped her head to gawk at her, mouth agape. “Sorry, Candy!” She told her, before turning back to Mabel. “We just feel like we’re too old for it!”

Mabel’s posture relaxed. “Oh?” She tilted her head. “That’s all? You told me that last year.”

“Yes, we did.” Candy said. “And you set things on fire.”

Mabel shrugged.

“Are you sure you’re okay with it?” Grenda asked. “Are you going to set things on fire again?” Mabel shook her head.

“You can come to a party with us if you want!” Candy added urgently.

Mabel shook her head, laughing slightly. “I told you guys, I’m over it. I know you don’t want to go trick-or-treating anymore. I’m okay with it.” She saw their unsure faces. ‘Really! I know you guys and my brother aren’t into trick-or-treating anymore, I just figured I’d keep doing it.”

Candy and Grenda finally seemed to relax a little. Candy wiped her sweaty forehead off with her sleeve. “Oh, that is a relief.”

“Yeah,” Grenda agreed. “We were scared you’d freak out on us again.”

Mabel waved her hand nonchalantly. “Nah, It’s all good. I want to hear about this party you guys are going to!”

Candy went on to tell her about how Grenda had gotten three Summerween party invites in the past week, but had turn down all but one because the inviters hadn’t wanted Candy coming. “Cute boys and horror-themed candy are nice, but not worth leaving a bestie behind for.” Grenda had declared seriously.

“She’s too beautiful.” Candy said sadly, stroking Grenda’s cheek. “She will soon realize she’s too good for us.”

Grenda waved her hand away. “Puh-lease. Besties for life.”

They kept on talking and giggling for hours into the evening, only interrupted when Soos came to tell them his shift was over and he was going home and Soos Jr. began whining and pawing at him and trying to get into his truck. After the piglets had settled down they went back inside and began giving each other makeovers.

The fun finally ended when it got dark and Grenda realized her mother wanted her home by now, and Candy shrieked that she had forgotten to feed her virtual boyfriend. The said their farewells, then Mabel headed downstairs to see what the guys were up to.

“Hey.” She greeted them, flopping down on the couch beside a very engrossed Dipper and a happy Waddles. Judging by his fixated stare and a quick glance at the screen she knew they were watching Ghost Harassers. It also explained why Grunkle Stan looked so bored. Ghost Harassers was definitely not one of his favorites. He said it had too much shaky camera and yelling and not enough fighting.

“Hey.” Dipper responded, sounding as distracted as he looked.

“Hey.” Grunkle Stan greeted her too, sounding as bored as he looked. “Your friends left?” He asked, to which she nodded in response, scratching her soul mate’s belly as he snorted softly.

The guys on the screen made some very hip and G-rated exclamations of surprise. The camera shook and zoomed up on what looked like their feet and bit of static and a few “Oh, _snap_ dawgs!” later is was commercial break.

Dipper finally looked up from the screen. “I’m sorry you missed the beginning of this, Mabel.” He told her. “It’s a really good one.”

“Sure,” Grunkle Stan muttered under his breath, taking a sip from his Pitt Cola. “If the camera stood still long enough to see anything.”

Benjamin Franklin trotted up into the room. Mabel’s face broke into a wide smile and began slapping the couch cushion next to her as invitation. However, the little black piglet pointedly ignored her. He trotted straight past the couch to Grunkle Stan’s recliner, hopping up onto the foot rest.

Mabel crossed her arms, sticking out her lower lip in a pout. “No fair.” She grumbled.

“What can you do?” Grunkle Stan asked, leaning foreword to scratch the little guy behind the ears. He snorted happily, his eyes squeezing shut as he relaxed into the pets. “This reminds me, I wanted to talk to you about the pigs.” Grunkle Stan told Mabel, leaning back in his chair.

“Yeah?” She asked.

“I don’t think they should all stay here.” He said.

“WHAT?!” She exclaimed, bolting upright.

“This place isn’t going to be big enough for four fully grown pigs. Plus, they keep eating my ties.” He took another sip from his drink. Dipper looked back and forth between the two of them. He could sense they were going to start butting heads any minute now. Metaphorically, but maybe also literally. He chewed at his lip.

“You have plenty of space for them here!” Mabel gestured around the room. “I can’t believe you want to get rid of them!”

“I don’t _want_ to, I just think we should find another home for them.” Grunkle Stan was starting to sound annoyed.

“Oh, yeah right.” Mabel said coldly. “You’ve never liked Waddles. I bet you can’t wait to get rid of him.”

“Waddles can stay, that was always the plan.” Grunkle Stan told her. “But I didn’t agree to all these piglets!”

Mabel stood up, shaking with rage. “Well we wouldn’t have had this piglet-problem if you had been keeping a better eye on him! Do you even _know_ who the father is?!” She turned around to face her pig. “I’m sorry, Waddles! Someone had to say it, we were all thinking it!”

He snorted woefully

Mabel gasped. “Is- Is it Gompers?!” She looked at Grunkle Stan with a horrified expression. “What did I tell you?! You know Waddles isn’t himself around his ex-husband, I told you to keep him away! You know Gompers is no good for him!”

“Kid, I have no idea what you’re talking about.” Her Great Uncle’s frustration was replaced with a confused expression.

Mabel just shook her head, her lip starting to trembling. “Forget it!” She cried. “Obviously no one here cares what I think!”

She felt her eyes water, Dipper and Grunkle Stan looking at her in shock as she choked out a sob and turned on her heel, running up the stairs. She swung open the door to her bedroom and slammed it shut behind her, flopping down on to the bed.

She felt her tears run down her face and splash hotly against her nose. She wiped her eyes and sighed, she felt frustrated about everything and angry at her Great Uncle, but if she was being honest there was a lot more than anger at him.

Suddenly there was a knock on the door. She sighed, knowing this was coming. Fights between her and her Grunkle were rare, but they always went the same way. She’d storm off, he would feel bad and set aside his pride for her, and then send Dipper up to apologize for him.

“I’m know I overreacted. Tell Grunkle Stan I’m sorry too.” Mabel said without looking.

“Sorry I made you so upset.” Came the voice from the doorway. She sat up. That definitely wasn’t the voice of a 16 year old boy. “Can I sit with you?”

Mabel let out a shaky breath and nodded. “I’m just upset about the piglets, I guess it’s not really your fault.” The bed sank underneath his weight as he joined her. “Plus I’m just kinda… down right now.”

“Dipper told me, actually.” Grunkle Stan said. “That you liked that blonde girl. And that things aren’t going too well for you.”

“Oh.” She felt her cheeks heat up. “Pretty much.”

“I never liked her.” Grunkle Stan told her.

Mabel laughed. “Yeah, a lot of people don’t. She’s really not so bad.”

There was a moment of silence, in which her Great Uncle eyed her as though he didn’t believe Pacifica was not so bad. Then after a moment he sighed. “You know, if you really want to keep the piglets, I could do what we agreed with Waddles. Y’know, hold onto them for you until you get your own place, since your parents don’t want them at their house.”

Mabel’s eyes winded. “Uh…” She laughed nervously. “I think my starving artist college days are going to be filled with enough work feeding me and Waddles.” She shook her head, “I don’t think I could afford to feed four fully grown pigs.”

“Now you know how I feel.” Grunkle Stan poked her in the ribs and she giggled.

He gave her a sympathetic look. “I’ll be honest, kid. I used to hate that stupid pig. But I’m going to be sorry to see them all go. But hey, I bet we could find homes for them nearby.” He shrugged. “Maybe somewhere you could visit them.”

“Yeah?” She smiled. “That would be great.”

Grunkle Stan ginned. “So, feeling well enough to join us downstairs?”

“Well enough to make Dipper change the channel, that’s for sure.” She grinned back at him, and he returned it with a hearty laugh.

#

Mabel had fallen asleep right on that couch that night, before anyone else. Dipper and Stan didn’t even notice until after the TV re-run of Grandpa the Kid had ended that she was passed out and snoring on the cushions. Dipper woke her up and she walked right up the stairs and passed out for the second time on her bed. Crying always made her tired.

Because of this, she woke up early the next morning. Far earlier than anyone else. She attempted to lie in bed for awhile longer, but she hadn’t the patience to try and fall back asleep. After getting dressed she scooped up Waddles in her arms (he was certainly heavy, but her love for him made her strong) and head down the stairs.

She was awake, but not alert as she blearily searched the kitchen for breakfast ingredients. She pulled out bags of frozen fruits and vegetables from the freezer and rummaged around the fridge for juice. When she had found the two she began pouring it into the blender. Because her Great Uncle was such a cheapskate the blender desperately needed replacing but had yet to have been replaced, much like many of the appliances in the house.

The duct tape seemed to have been holding it together well enough, but the motor was so weak it was taking forever. She rummaged through the shelves for the final ingredients. She was glad to see no one had finished her bags of edible glitter and tiny dinosaurs and poured them into the blender as well.

“What should I do today Waddles?” She asked, plopping him down on the counter before clambering up next to him.

He blinked up at her.

“Well, I could obsess over Pacifica Northwest.” She told him. “That’s always tempting. Never much fun though.” Waddles chewed at his front paw, a sure sign he was giving her his full attention. No one was a better listener than her soul mate.

She looked at the blender. “Mabel Juice is done!” She cried happily, getting up to pour herself and Waddles a glass. Waddles pushed the cup out of the way and knocked over the blender, lapping up what was falling onto the counter.

Mabel chuckled, taking a thoughtful swig from her mug. “What do you think?”

Waddles snorted.

“Oh!” Her face brightened up. “That’s way better than my idea! Yeah, I should start working on the costumes!” She kissed his cheek. “You’re so smart.”

He let out another snort and rolled onto his back, covered in glittery smoothie.

Mabel shook her head in wonder. How was he such a visionary? She ran back up the stairs and opened the door carefully, trying to make no more noise than the inevitable creak of the door and wooden floor as she tip-toed across the room and picked her cellphone from the table, where it lay among various trashy queer teen lit. novels.

On her way back down the stairs she realized that she hadn't seen any piglets about. They usually slept in her or Dipper's bed and didn't wander off until after the two were up and about. The only thing that could rouse them from their little piggy slumber was the sound Soos's truck. It wasn't that loud, but it seemed as though they would be able to hear it from miles away. The piglets were mad about Soos.

Mabel pocketed her phone and picked up her mug. She smiled when she saw how clean the counter was. Waddles was such a good boy, she didn't even need to wipe down the surface now. Or him, he was practically sparkling sitting and licking his hooves. She took a sip of The Mabel Smoothie, Mabel Juice 3.0. (It's predecessor being Mabel Juice 2.0- Mabel Coffee. However, her Great Uncle forbade her from making it anymore it, after the plastic dinosaurs melted in the coffee maker.) She peered out the window.

To her surprise, the old beat-up truck was parked beside the Stanmobile, the only two cars in the parking lot. Scooping up Waddles and carrying him under her arm, she looked about for the handyman.

Soos was in the sometimes a museum sometimes the exhibit part of the Mystery Shack. It was quite dark in the room, the only source of light came from Soos near the center of the room. He was holding a flashlight in one hand and a screwdriver in the other. He was perched precariously on a small step ladder, reaching up and tampering with the wires connecting the light panels. Sure enough, there were three little pigs. Two sitting contentedly in his tool bag, and little Benjamin Franklin seemed to have taken Soos' wallet and was chewing the leather.

"Yo, yo, yo, Soos!" Mabel greeted cheerfully.

He looked around for a moment, then spotted her in the near darkness. "Hey, Hambone!" He replied.

"Need a helping hand?” She asked, placing Waddles down next to his children. He nodded, and she stepped over and took the flashlight for him. "What's the haps 'round here?" She questioned, looking up at the wires he was fiddling with.

"These light panels are like christmas lights." He told her. "One goes out, then they all go out." He looked up at the ceiling, and pointed a few inches to his right. "Can you shine it right there, Hambone? Ah! Thanks, dude. So anyway, I had to come early before the Shack opened to fix it."

She was watching him untangle the wires, quite bored already. She glanced down at her feet and saw that Peggy Freckles was chewing at the hem of her jeans. Mabel shifted her weight onto one foot and lifted her other to gently pet the pigs with her toes. "Aren't they just the most precious things on earth?" She said, barely above a whisper.

"They're the best, dog. Always keeping me company." Soos said, his always cheerful voice sounding even brighter at the mention of them. "A little to the left."

Mabel adjusted the light and frowned. "Too bad we can't keep them." She looked sadly down at the adorable Peggy Freckles. "Grunkle Stan told me last night I need to find homes for them.”

"I was wondering when he would bring it up." Soos said.

"Hm?" Mabel looked back at him, but he was still squinting up at the wires. "You... already knew?"

"Oh, yeah." Soos turned to look at her. "When Waddles first had them Mr. Pines knew he couldn't keep them. He thought of getting rid of them before you came, so you wouldn't get attached, ya know." He looked back up at the ceiling again, unscrewing the bottom of one of the light panels. "But he really wanted you to see them. I was wondering when he was gonna tell you, he didn't want to spring in on ya right when you came. Can you point the light there?"

Mabel shifted the light for him mechanically, her mind whirring elsewhere. So Grunkle Stan had always known he had to get rid of them? She sighed, looking at the piglets. Benjamin Franklin was now in a game of tug of war with Peggy Freckles for the wallet and Waddles was eyeing his children, perhaps waiting to intervene if things got out of... hoof. Soos Jr was excitedly running around the whole spectacle.

"I'm going to miss them so much." She told Soos. "I really hope I can find someone nice to take them. Maybe somewhere I can visit them a lot."

There was a fizzing noise above her, followed by a faint pop. All the lights turned back on, suddenly flooding the large room with light. Mabel beamed.

"Soos!" She cried.

"I know, right?" He said, twirling his screwdriver. "Am I good or am I good?" He fumbled the tool and nearly dropped it.

"Not that!" She waved her arms excitedly. "The piglets! You _love_ them! And they love you! You should totally take them."

Soos's eyes widened. "Really? Could I?"

"Uhmmm....of course!!!” She beamed. "Do you want to?!"

"I need to ask my Abuelita, but I'd love that, Hambone!" He stepped down the ladder and turned to the piglets. "What do you guys think?"

Soos Jr stuck out his tongue and flopped onto his back, legs up in the air for belly rubs.

"If that isn't a solid 'hell freaking yes'," Mabel said, crouching down on to her knees to provide the demanded belly rubs. "I don't have any idea what is."

Soos's face split into a wide a smile, crouching down as well.

Since his shift technically didn't start for about another hour, the two walked into the living room and sat down on the couch. Soos had turned on the tv and was watching something, but Mabel was bouncing her leg up and down with excitement, not paying the screen any mind as she forcefully held down her phone's power button.

She felt considerably better now that she knew the pigs were going to a good home, and so she decided to do what she had gone upstairs and grabbed her phone for. Though it was taking a really long time to try and turn it on. She wondered vaguely if it was dead once and for all, but after a few minutes the phone came to life. 

Well, came to life was a little generous. More like returned to roam the mortal plane in a torturous half-existence. Either way, it was working well enough for her to scroll through her contacts and send a message.

*  
**TheTrueGlitterQueen: Pacifica!!!! :D!!!**  
**TheTrueGlitterQueen: pezcifica! :D!**  
**TheTrueGlitterQueen: pezmachineeecifica :D!**  
**TheTrueGlitterQueen: pez paz panaz jazz  
** **TheTrueGlitterQueen: yo yo FAKE glitter queen C:  
** **TheTrueGlitterQueen: o....i went there! snnNAAAPPP!!!! oUo**  
**TheTrueGlitterQueen: txt me back :S :S :3c???**  
**TheTrueGlitterQueen: r u..... ALSEP!??!?!? O:???**  
**TheTrueGlitterQueen: this is no time for SLEPPPPPP!!!! O:  
** **TheTrueGlitterQueen: paz-man /)ouo/)**  
**TheTrueGlitterQueen: pazzy cake pazzy cake bakers man (\ouo(\**

********Life-In-Lavender: omfg. Mabel i WAS sleeping.** ** ** **

********TheTrueGlitterQueen: well not anymore!!! :D so get ur booty up and txt me ur measurements!** ** ** **

********Life-In-Lavender: wtf. y?** ** ** **

********TheTrueGlitterQueen: uhmmm COSTUMES. SUMMERWWEEENNNNN!!!??!??!!** ** ** **

********Life-In-Lavender: right, right.**  
**Life-In-Lavender: couldnt this have waited tho?** ** ** **

********TheTrueGlitterQueen: well i mean i guessss but does an artist wait when the sweet muse of temptation calls ??? 0: 0:** ** ** **

**************Life-In-Lavender:....**  
**Life-In-Lavender: ooooohh well when u put it like that**  
**Life-In-Lavender: yeah it could have waited u clown.**  
**Life-In-Lavender: but i’m up so lemme just give it to u >.> **

**************.**  
**.**  
**.**

********TheTrueGlitterQueen: ...**  
**TheTrueGlitterQueen: ?** ** ** **

********Life-In-Lavender:....**  
**Life-In-Lavender: im embarassed** ** ** **

********TheTrueGlitterQueen: Why?** ** ** **

********Life-In-Lavender: i've been slacking on my diet...**  
**Life-In-Lavender: i don't exactly have.... a "beach body"...** ** ** **

**************TheTrueGlitterQueen: UHM**  
**TheTrueGlitterQueen: I HOPE BY THAT U MEAN UR BODY IS NOT LITERALLY A BEACH**  
**TheTrueGlitterQueen: CUZ ITS NOT**  
**TheTrueGlitterQueen: but if u mean ur body ISNT DROP DEAD GORGEOUS HELLA FLY ICY HOT TOO HOT HOT DAMN CALL THE POLICE AND THE FIRE MAN**  
**TheTrueGlitterQueen: u NEED TO SHUT GOD DAMN UR MOUTH 0:  
** **TheTrueGlitterQueen: UR LIKE THE MOST BEATIFUL GIRL IN THE WORLD. UR HAIR IS WOVEN WITH FINE SILK!!! IT CATCHES THE SUNLIGHT AND HOLDS IT WITHIN YOU AND IT GLOWS THRU UR CHEEKS AND IN UR EYES EVERY TIME U SMILE**  
**TheTrueGlitterQueen: I HAVE NEVER KNOWN SUCH BEAUTY!!!**  
**TheTrueGlitterQueen: your GORGEOUS pacifica!!!**

**********Life-In-Lavender: oh…**  
**Life-In-Lavender: do you really think all that Mabel?** ** ** ** **

******************TheTrueGlitterQueen: yesss!!!!**  
**TheTrueGlitterQueen: but not like**  
**TheTrueGlitterQueen: in a gay way**

**********Life-In-Lavender: omfg you assclown** ** ** ** **

***********Life-In-Lavender sent an attachtment*** ** ** ** **

******************Life-In-Lavender: there.**  
**Life-In-Lavender: don’t text me before 9am if u wanna live**  
**Life-In-Lavender: and Mabel?**

**********TheTrueGlitterQueen: :3c ??** ** ** ** **

****************Life-In-Lavender: i dont know if you were joking**  
** **Life-In-Lavender: but thats really sweet**  
**Life-In-Lavender: Thanks.**  
*  
**.**

Mabel tip toed back up the stairs and into the shared room, her brother still asleep. She opened her suitcase and rummaged through the clothes and stuffed animals until she found her mini-sewing machine and neon pink measuring tape. She carried the items downstairs. 

Grunkle Stan was already up, albeit only partly, groggily making coffee in a bathrobe. "Mornin'" he grumbled.

"Morning!" She responded with vigor. 

"What you got there?" He asked, pouring himself a cup and sitting down at the table. 

"Sewing machine." She responded, placing it on the living room table. 

His eyebrows scrunched up, silently wondering why she would bring something like that on vacation. He kept the question to himself, however. He knew whatever the girl's response was would just confuse him further. 

"I'm going into town to do some shopping." Mabel told him. "Want to give your favorite grand niece a ride?"

"No." Came his deadpan response. 

She stuck out her lower lip in a pout.

"But I do have something really great for you instead." He said, getting up from his seat and walking out of the room. Mabel beamed excited when he returned. "Close your eyes and hold your hands."

She did as she was told, and heard a thump as what felt like a stack of paper was thrown into her hands. She opened her eyes to see Mystery Shack Event Fliers. 

"You can put those up on your walk." Grunkle Stan informed. Mabel scowled.

She stood up with a huff and placed the stack under her arm. "You're a cruel man." She lamented, placing a hand on her heart to show him where he had wounded her.

#

40 stupid posters and mile later, Mabel was where romance lives and fashion styles died, Gravity Falls Mall.

She made her way up to the second floor, seeing if the discount fabric store was still in business after the year since she had seen it last. Sure enough it was, and she traded half her summer vacation money allotted to her by her parents for all the fabrics needed for the costumes. Plus, some yarn to knit the piglets and Soos some matching sweaters.


	7. Rainstorms

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HEY YOU GUYS SORRY ITS BEEN SO LONG. I WASNT LYING WHEN I PROMISED I WOULD FINISH THIS. Sorry this is such a teeny tiny update, just wanted to add something!!! The tones gonna get happier again next chapter, and the next one should be longer I swear. I'm halfway through typing it, but I'm scared to say its gonna be up "soon" considering my past record with saying i would have things up "soon."

Mabel Pines wasn’t fond of the expression “When it rains, it pours.” One, it was fairly negative and Mabel Pines was not fond of the negative, fairly or otherwise. Two, it implied there was something un-fun about water pouring down from the sky. Whoever had coined those words in a negative context had clearly never jumped in a very fun mud puddle. Third, the phrase shouldn’t have ever been used the way it had now, it was just supposed to refer to the capabilities of Morton Salt’s salt, but people had decided to turn it into something miserable.

Though, maybe it was the lack of sleep talking, she was starting to see some truth in the phrase.

She was in a nest of fabric and her sewing machine was humming. She had the room to herself because Dipper had huffily left to sleep on the couch, complaining her all-nighter had kept him up. It wasn’t her fault that she hadn’t finished and Summerween was tomorrow night, it was stupid Pacifica’s.

Everytime she had pulled out her fabric scissors it was, “Hey, Mabel. Do you want to go to the mall with me?” Each time she plugged in her sewing machine it was, “Mabel, I have this stupid soiree I need to attend. If you promise to not act like a total weirdo you can come keep me company.”

“Just say no, Mabel,” Dipper had advised. “Just tell her you need to work on the costumes.”

“Dippperr,” Mabel had whined in response. “I can’t! She knows my weakness!”

Dipper cocked and eyebrow. “What’s that?”

“Please,” Mabel explained. “She always adds ‘please.’”

Dipper rolled his eyes. “Well, in that case, Mabel, just tell her you need to work on the costumes, _please_.”

Mabel considered him for a moment. “Nah, didn’t work.” He rolled his eyes. “You’re not doing it right,” Mabel informed him before returning to text Pacifica “heck yes I want to hang out at your place tonight!”

The magic of Pacifica’s please wasn’t the word itself, it was the way it followed her confident demands. It was the way she suddenly sounded like she had second guessed herself, almost like she was desperate for time with Mabel but was scared Mabel didn’t feel the same way. The way it made Mabel want to kiss all of Pacifica’s insecurities away, even though she knew that only worked in fairytales. 

Which brought Mabel to tonight, sewing sailor uniforms with vigor with less than twenty four hours to finish. The only progress she had made prior to today was when she and Pacifica bought hair extensions at Gravity Fall’s mall last week. She felt the deadline falling towards her like heavy raindrops; splash, splash, splash.

Her phone rang, feebly bleating Sev’ral Timez’s “Blondie (My girl, My girl)” from busted speakers. Mabel sighed through her nose before answering, “Hey, Pacifica.”

“Hey, Mabel! So my parents are in France for the weekend and I asked Francsorie if he would take me in the limo to Portland for the night.”

Maybe Mabel could get say no without having to say ‘no.’ “That sounds fun, Pacifica. I hope you have a great time.”

She could hear the eye roll. “Obviously you’re coming, and _we_ will have a great time.”

There was a pause.

“Please?” Pacifica, Mabel’s friend, Mabel’s Blondie, her girl, her girl, asked.

Splash, splash, splash.

Mabel took a deep breath. “I have to work on the costumes.”

Another pause.

“Oh. Yeah. Well that’s fine.”

Mabel didn’t want her to feel rejected. “I just want us to look amazing for tomorrow.”

Pacifica laughed. “Mabel, darling. We always look amazing.”

And they said their goodbyes, and Mabel was glad she couldn’t actually kiss someone through the phone because Pacifica was too wonderful for her own good.

Mabel placed her phone aside, and picked up her fabric scissors. She had just started cutting the fabric for Jupiter’s bow when her phone rang again, this time playing funky dubstep song she had picked for Soos.

Splash, splash, splash.

“Hey, Soos. I can’t talk long. I’m a little busy.”

Splash, splash, splash.

“WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOUR ABUELITA SAID YOU CAN ONLY TAKE ONE PIGLET?!”

SPLASH, SPLASH, SPLASH.

And suddenly Mabel’s costumes were forgotten, phone book on her lap and calling everyone she could think of.

“C’mon, Wendy! A pig is a perfect companion for a pre-med student! I mean I’m sure your dorm meant, like, _cats and dogs_ when they said no pets. I mean, pigs are more like best friends than pets.”

“Grenda, I bet your mom was just pulling one of those “psyche!” moments when she said you absolutely could not have a piglet.”

“No, Candy, look, a piglet is the perfect way to get a boy to fall for you. Pigs make girls more desirable, it’s a science thing I promise.”

“Look, Lazy Susan, I promise a pig is a perfect companion for your diner! Yeah! So you agree! How meaty are they? Uh… I think there’s been a severe misunderstanding.”

“I mean, Sherriff Blubs, I know you and your husband are looking to adopt a child, but are you looking for, like... a _human_ child? Or something a little more four-legged?”

Dipper walked in right when she was about to call Robbie.

“C’mon Mabel. You really don’t have much time left til’ Summerween. I mean, when is it?”

“How many hours are there in twenty-eight months, Dipper?”

His concerned frown disappeared and he looked thoughtful. He closed his eyes and after a moment replied, “About 21038 hours. Why?”

“Well, Summerween is in 20134 hours less than your goth phase lasted,” Mabel replied. He made it way too easy. 

Dipper scrubbed his face with his hands, groaning in frustration. “When will you just say ‘tomorrow’?”

Mabel thoughtfully tapped her phone against her chin. “Hmm… when you stop falling for my brilliant trap?”

“Fair enough,” Dipper replied with the air of someone admitting defeat. He carefully navigated himself through the room, walking over the haphazard clumps of fabric, clothing iron, measuring tape and various other items. He flopped down on his adjacent bed, yawning and rubbing at his eyes. Clearly, he had awoken long after the sun. Mabel turned back to her phone and finished punching in Robbie’s number.

“So, what’s got you distracted now?” her brother asked, watching her continue to neglect her sewing project.

Mabel held up a hand and pointed to the phone. “I’ll tell you when you’re the same age as I am now,” she informed him, bring up an oldie but a goldie. 

Dipper rolled his eyes and grumbled, _”why can’t you just say ‘in five minutes?’”_ as Robbie answered.

Sure enough, five minutes later she had failed to convince Wendy’s ex-boyfriend that owning a pig was insanely gothic and that all the true edgy kids were doing it, adding a few more raindrops to the little storm cloud above her head.

“Soos can only take one piglet,” Mabel informed her twin, tossing her phone somewhere into the floor piles and flopping back onto her bed as well. “So I still have to find a home for lil’ Ben F. and Peggy.”

Dipper frowned. “That really bites. Sorry, sis.”

“Yeah,” Mabel looked up at her ceiling. ”It does.”

Splash, splash, splash.

#

Dipper convinced her to put the piglet problem on the backburner, and Mabel buried all the things that weren’t going her way into her work. It was a nice little escape. Mabel told herself each stitch took away her anxiety about the piglets, each cut with the scissors was alleviated her pining for Pacifica, and each completed hem was a sign that things were going to change for the better, just as surely as Morton Salt’s salt would not clump when it was humid out.


	8. Summerween Extravaganza

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> here is the chapter friends

Mabel woke up slowly, groggily. She figured this was how her phone felt everytime she turned it on, forcing it back into the realm of the living when all she wanted was just enjoy the dark coziness of her couch. After two all nighters she had two perfect Sailor Moon Sailor Scout costumes, if she dare said so herself (and she did dare, because they were perfect). She had hurried downstairs to tell her Grunkle, brother, and Soos her very exciting news sometime before lunch. Then she had passed out. Magnificently. Majestically. Just flopped down. 

Her family had agreed the worst thing they could do was wake her, and the best thing would be to carry her up to her bed so she could rest. However, a lanky 6”1 teenage girl turned out to be too heavy for any of them, so they did neither the best nor the worst thing, instead they did just the okay thing, leaving her on the couch and watching tv at a lower volume.

Hours had passed, and Mabel struggled to pull apart her crusty eyelids to blink them open and take in the dim evening light pouring through the windows. She was insanely groggy, but in an awesome post-nap high nonetheless. She was trying to figure out where she was and what time it was, pulling strands of hair out of her mouth that had fallen in during her sleep, when she realized there was someone else on the couch with her.

“I was wondering when you’d finally wake up,” Pacifica told her. Mabel shook her head a little as she sat up, trying to clear it. She was sure that she must be hallucinating. Pacifica in her lilac dress and designer boots and shiny blonde hair framing her face in a bob, legs crossed and posture perfect, looked too weird in her Great Uncle’s messy, grimy living room.

Mabel said the only thing she could think of, which was, “Are you real?”

Pacifica cocked an eyebrow. Then she reached forward and pinched Mabel hard on the arm.

“Ow! Okay you’re real.” Mabel rubbed at her eyes. “Why are you in my living room?”

“Oh, I don’t know Mabel. I think you only mentioned how excited you were for Summerween eight thousand times in the past weeks, and told me to show up at _exactly_ noon so we could get ready about ninety times a day.”

“Ohmygod tonight is Summerween!”

Pacifica looked at the ceiling and inhaled slowly through her nose.

“Ohmygod! Pacifica, how long have you been here?”

“Since exactly noon.”

Mabel frowned. “And you’ve just been, what. Sitting on my couch?”

“Yeah,” Pacifica started laughing at that. “Dipper’s hilarious. He had this contest where we stacked things on your face.” Mabel looked down at the floor, noticing it scattered with erasers and books like they had just been dumped there. Pacifica laughed harder, doing her little piglet-snort thing. Mabel felt strangely huffy. _She_ had invited that game, not Dipper.

“Where’s Dipper now?” Mabel asked, deciding not to dwell on the fact _Pacifica freaking Northwest_ had been apparently watching her sleep with hair in her mouth sprawled out on her Grunkle’s ratty sofa.

“He went to a party with the freckles girl or something. And your Uncle is doing his haunted house thing for the Shack along with your servant.” Pacifica paused. “No, wait. Sorry. With Jorge. I’ve just been waiting for you to wake up. Dipper said you pulled two all-nighters.”

Mabel’s heart pounded with excitement at showing off her undeniably perfect creation. “I did! And I’m finished!” Pacifica looked excited as well, that sunshiney glow lit up in her cheeks. Mabel’s heart cracked a rib in it’s pounding. “I’ll go get ‘em, don’t go anywhere!”

In the blink of an eye Mabel was running down the stairs back into the room, arms full with the lovingly crafted costumes. She practically thrust the orange one into Pacifica’s hands, squealing “Go try it on, go try it on!”

“Okay, okay,” Pacifica laughed as Mabel tried to shove her in the direction of the bathroom. “I’m excited too, but calm down you nut.”

What felt like a century later Pacifica was opening the door, stepping out with the full get-up on, pulling the gloves up to their place above her elbows, looking awed. “This looks incredible, Mabel,” she grinned. Mabel glowed with pride.

Once she was satisfied with the gloves Pacifica reached up and tightened the bow in her hair. It was a little weird to see if so long again, reaching her hips like it had when they first met. Mabel found herself a little nostalgic despite herself.

“Twirl for me, Pacifica darling,” Mabel cooed like the designers she watched on tv.

“Naturally, naturally,” Pacifica replied in the same tone before giving an elegant spin the citrus orange skirt fanning out elegantly. Mabel cheered, clapping her hands.

“Okay, goofball,” Pacifica said after indulging her with a few more spins. “It’s your turn.”

Happy to oblige, Mabel went into the bathroom and changed into her costume, stepping out to more enthusiastic compliments from Pacifica that made her feel a little bashful- something Mabel felt a grand total of once or twice a year.

“So, we ready to get this started?” Pacifica asked. Mabel nodded enthusiastically, before remembering it was really only about five in the afternoon.

“Actually, as much as I want to go door to door and demand candy and then eat candy ‘til I go into a candy coma, I think we should wait ‘til it’s a little darker out.”

“Well you’re the one with the Halloween experience, I believe you.” Pacifica idly her drummed her fingers against her smartphone. “What should we do in the meantime?”

Mabel felt a mischievous grin spread across her face. She had just the plan.

“Ever had pizza?”

#

“So it’s like cheese and tomato sauce on bread?” Pacifica was asking her some odd minutes later, frowning down at the food dubiously. She picked up her slice off the paper plate, the gooey cheese slipping down. In the background blared more episodes of Sailor Moon, put on in honor of their outfits.

“Ohhhh, Pacfica. Pacifica, Pacifica, _Pacifica_ ,” Mabel shook her head slowly, sadly. She had gotten used to all the little things Pacifica hadn’t gotten to try, and while she still found it tragic, she loved being able to expose her friend to them. And to be there for the reaction. “It is the food of the _gods_.”

“Alright…” Pacifica said, still not looking convinced. She tentatively took a bite, and her whole face changed.

“Oh. My. God.” Her hand was over her mouth, still chewing as she talked- something Mabel had noticed she _never_ did. 

“Tooolddd you,” Mabel replied, chewing happily as she spoke- something Mabel always did. She was impatient and wanted to get her words out there, even if bits of chewed food came with them.

“Oh my god.” Pacifica said again, taking another bite. “I mean, like, oh my god.”

“Mhhhmm.”

“But oh my god though.”

“I know. Sweetie, trust me. I know.”

Pacifica nodded, her eyebrows still up above her bangs. She finished the rest of her slice in silence, but the fact she had finally, truly reached Nirvana and could now die happily was clearly expressed in her sparkling eyes.

#

Mabel had chastised Pacifica somewhere around her fifth slice that they needed to save room for candy, but Pacifica had reminded her that she hated candy and was just going to give all hers to Mabel. To which Mabel got a little teary-eyed and declared, “Oh, how foolish I was to forget! Forgive me, my most generous lord. My saviour, my delightful candy-hating friend.” Mabel bowed her head, lifting up a slice from her plate with both hands. “Please, take this humble offering as thanks for the most charitable act you plan to bestow upon me.”

“Shut the hell up, Mabel,” Pacifica groaned, but she was smiling, and did take the slice.

#

Awhile later the sun was setting, casting a fair amount of orange against the darkening blue sky, and the two girls were ready, plastic melon-lantern containers in hand. The streets were full of young children being totted around by their parents and older tweens in groups with their friends. Mabel could see one or two other teenagers had braved the possibility of rejection due to their age for the chance at a bag full of free candy. 

“So we just go door to door asking for handouts?” Pacifica asked, still not seeming to completely understand the concept.

“Demanding candy.” Mabel nodded. “And candy only, feel free to say something if someone tries to pull out some raisins or pencils on us. They are horrible people. And they need to be called out. Got it?”

Pacifica nodded uncertainly, clearly not getting it. But she was willing, and by night’s end Mabel planned to see those same sparkling eyes as when she had given Pacifica pizza. However, things weren’t going quite as smoothly as Mabel had hoped. Starting with Pacifica’s inability to pronounce the words “Trick-or-treat.”

“Tricker treat,” Pacifica said for the umpteenth time.

“Trick-or-treat,” Mabel corrected.

“Tricker treat, that’s what I’m saying!”

After a couple minutes of arguing as they walked away from the edge of the forest where the Shack resided, to the more suburban area of Gravity Falls, Mabel eventually decided it would have to do. They made their way up to the first house, adorned with Summerween decorations and brightly lit in spooky green lights.

Mabel knocked, yelling “trick-or-treat!” as Pacifica called, a little softer and less certain of what she was doing, her butchered “trickier treat.”

A woman opened the door, dressed in one of those shiny plastic and quite cheap looking department store pirate costumes. Her smile faded as she got a good look at the two, scanning them up and down, obviously noting Pacifica’s makeup and Mabel’s height.

“Aren’t you a bit old, sweeties?” she asked, thinly veiled sweetness failing to cover the judgement in her voice.

Pacifica coughed awkwardly, looking at Mabel, who was smiling undeterred. “Are you ever really too old for Summerween?” she asked confidently.

“Yes,” the woman said. “I think so.” And she shut the door on them.

Pacifica frowned. “Does that happen a lot?”

Mabel shrugged, “This is my first year going since I got my growth spurt.” She looked at Pacifica, and gave her a reassuring grin. “But I’m sure everyone won’t be as grumpy as that woman.”

The next three houses proved Mabel wrong. But she still didn’t let it deter her spirit.  
She kept assuring Pacifica, “the next house will be better.”

After twenty more doors closing on themselves and no candy to their names, Mabel was starting to look dejected.

They were walking the streets to the next neighborhood, Mabel frowning at the ground in the dim light of the street lights, younger children occasionally jogging past them, shrieking with laughter and holding large pillow cases and trash bags filled to the brim, when Pacifica finally spoke up. “We can just call it quits, Mabel.”

Mabel’s head snapped up to look at her, mouth open and eyes wide. “No!” was her immediate response. But then she looked off at the group a few yards ahead of them, loud and energetically conversing and quite a few years younger than the two girls. “I mean, I really wanted you to have a good time…”

“Mabel, I don’t care about trick-or-treating, I told you.” Pacifica gave her a lopsided smile. “I’m just doing this because you wanted to. It only really matters if you’re having fun, and....” she paused. “Well, you’re clearly not.”

Mabel stopped walking and looked down at her feet. Well, Pacifica had gotten her there. This was really not fun at all. “I’m sorry this is turning out so lame, “ she sighed. “Usually trick-or-treating is really fun.”

Pacifica stopped walking too, tapping at her chin thoughtfully. “Well, how about this. One more house, and if we get turned down again, we can just call it quits.”

Mabel took a deep breath and willed herself to cheer up. “Alright.” They began walking again. “That’s a good plan Pacifica. After all, I bet the next neighborhood will be a lot friendlier!” Because Mabel Pines was nothing if not a girl who saw the glass half full even if there was only a single drop of water.

#

The first house they arrived at was that of Toby Determined’s, sparsely decorated but the front porch light still on. He opened the door, stepping out with great difficulty in a puffy microphone costume and holding a large bowl of candy.

“Happy Summerween little-” he stopped, looking over the two. “Hnnnrgh. You’re really not all that little.”

Mabel’s expecting smile froze on her face, and Pacifica noticed.

“Right,” Mabel mumbled, turning to leave. Before she even knew what she was doing, Pacifica’s arm shot off and grabbed at Mabel’s, stopping her.

“Okay, that’s it!” Pacifica called, pulling herself up so that in her heels she was able to get an inch of height over the man. “I’ve had enough! Do you have any idea who I am, you pathetic little hack?!”

Both Toby and Mabel turned to her in surprise. Pacifica plowed on, “I am Pacifica Elise Northwest! Sound familiar?” Toby hesitated, then nodded slowly. “Well good! It should! Because my family has been an economic staple in this town since it’s founding and without us you all would be absolutely nothing! You think your pathetic rag of a newspaper reporting on all this trivial small town petty gossip, marketed to a bunch of red necks who can barely even read would have any chance of a profit if it weren’t for my parents support?!”

Toby said nothing, and Pacifica let out a cold, high laugh. “Your entire livelihood and career is indebted to the Northwest name! And I don’t think someone of your social class has any right to judge the daughter of the most prestigious family on this side of the country, if she chooses to participate in your idiotic local customs!” Pacifica smiled sweetly, and Mabel felt a kind of thrill of fear, glad that she was no longer on this frightening girl’s bad side.

“Uh,” he waffled. “Perhaps not?”

Pacifica clapped her hands together. “Well, that’s excellent! I’m glad that this hick town’s lackluster public school education did not deprive you of at least basic reasoning!” She held out her plastic lantern, and once Mabel got over her awe, realized she should do the same and mirrored her friend.

“So considering how much you and your colleagues owe to my parents, I don’t think it’s unreasonable that you give me and my good friend here, who might I add that she and her family singlehandedly saved this town from certain disaster on _various occasions,_ some of your cheap, department store-bought, disgusting, overly-processed candy.”

Pacifica gave her lantern a polite little shake to prompt the journalist. Looking dazed, he gave them each a handful from his bowl, avoiding looking into Pacifica’s eyes until after he had finished. When both she and Mabel had gotten some, he glanced up at her to see if he had her approval. She gave a smile and a small shake of her head, and he gave Mabel another handful. Mabel looked at Pacifica, terrifying smile still on her face, eyes fixed on the man before him until he had given at least half his bowl to the girl dressed as the green Sailor Scout.

“Well, I think that should suffice,” Pacifica nodded. “Have a lovely evening.” And with that, Mabel followed her off Toby’s porch, walking past a couple of horrified kids and parents who had stopped to watch the scene unfold.

As they walked towards the next house Pacifica’s violent confidence seemed to drain and she looked at Mabel, eyes apologetic. “I’m sorry,” she told her. “I know you don’t like it when I get all superior like that, and I said some pretty mean things.” Pacifica ran a hand through her hair. “I just think it’s really stupid how much attitude everyone is giving you, and you probably love this holiday more than anyone and you’re so much better than everyone in this town, so, like, who are they to judge? And-”

Mabel cut off her friend’s rambling with a signature Mabel Pounce Hug. “Noooo, Pacifica!” Mabel yelled, crushing Pacifica with her embrace. “That was freakin’ awesome! It was like, terrifying! And epic!” She gave her friend a few vigorous shakes before stepping back. “I am scared and weirdly turned on right now,” Mabel told her seriously.

Pacifica gave a half-laugh, half-shocked-splutter, turning pink and shoving her friend’s shoulder. “Calm down, it was nothing.”

Mabel shrugged her off. “No it was seriously cool! Thank you for defending all of us children-at-heart who love trick-or-treating!” Mabel grabbed Pacifica’s wrist and pulled both their arms in the air in a victorious pose, yelling, “All hail Pacifica Northwest! Champion of trick-or-treaters past puberty!”

Pacifica used her free hand to hide her face groaning, “I don’t know you. I’ve never met you in my life. Let go of me, random weirdo.”

No one paid much attention to them though, one or two small children giving them a confused look as they passed by Mabel pumping her first in the air and cheering “Hurrah! Hurrah!” One boy who looked about a year or two younger than them in a Star Wars costume joined in for one “Hurrah!” but that was about it.

#

Several pound of candy and threatened townspeople later, the lanterns were beginning to be blown out and the younger children were being walked back to their homes, and the more delinquent tweens were getting out toilet paper, readying themselves for the tricks.

“Should we call it quits?” Pacifica asked. “I can barely carry all this candy,” she confessed, visibly struggling with her filled-to-the-brim container. 

Mabel nodded. “Sure, let’s go over our haul. Your place?”

Pacifica shook her head. “Nah, my parents are home. I don’t want them to know how I spent my evening, they’d be so ashamed.” Mabel felt a pang of guilt, remembering she was the one who had roped Pacifica into this. Though, Pacifica really didn’t seem too bothered. “Your Uncle’s place?”

“I don’t think so. He’ll just force us to help him work on the haunted house.” Mabel looked around, eyes catching on the distant Gravity Falls lake, visible through the treeline. “C’mon, I know a good spot.”

Pacifica looked mildly interested as she followed Mabel, until they began walking into the forest, and Pacifica started to look uncertain. But it seemed in all the time she had spent with Mabel, she was used to this girl’s crazy antics and trusted her enough not to question her and just follow loyally, knowing the outcome would always be worth the work.

That, Mabel reasoned, or Pacifica was just distracted by trying to pull her heels out of the ground as they continued to get stuck in the dirt. But either way, it was totally going to be worth it.

They continued winding through the little unofficial path that had been created only by enough people walking the exact same route until the forest had began to grow its foliage out of the way to accommodate them. After about fifteen minutes Mabel led Pacifica out of the shortcut and onto the gravel parking lot of Gravity Falls lake.

Pacifica’s mouth fell open a fraction, her whole face lighting up at the view of the perfectly still water, reflecting the full moon, the faint cloud coverage, the shimmering stars and the treeline surrounding them. 

Mabel felt a little breathless herself at the beauty of the view next to her. Her mouth felt dry and she ran her tongue over her teeth to try and wet it before saying, “Pretty neat, huh?”

“Yeah,” Pacifica smiled contently. “Pretty neat for sure.”

The two girls walked up onto the docks, creaky and weathered with age and the wood swollen from the moisture. “I figured this place would be deserted,” Mabel explained. “Usually all the rowdy teens are hanging out here, but they’re probably all at the graveyard since it’s Halloween.”

“Rowdy teens like you and Dipper?” Pacifica asked, slight smirk on her face.

Mabel laughed. “Yeah, us and Wendy’s gang.” They stopped as they reached the end of the plank, sitting down side by side. Mabel returned Pacifica’s expression and added, “And now you.”

“I’m a rowdy teen?” Pacifica asked, amused. Mabel nodded. “Cool. What do rowdy teens, like, do?”

“Arson, vandalism, youtube song covers,” Mabel listed them off. “Graffiti, breaking into abandoned mini-marts, modern art pieces, rap, littering-” She stopped suddenly and turned to Pacifica with an intense expression on her face. “Don’t you dare litter, okay?”

Pacifica held up her hands in a placating manner. “I won’t! I won’t!”

“Good,” Mabel nodded. “Time to go over the fruit of our labours!” Pacifica watched with horrified interest as Mabel took of her gloves and tore into the candy with unrivaled enthusiasm. Within minutes she had chocolate all over her fingers and a pile of wrappers steadily increasing beside her.

As promised, Pacifica gave away her candy, except for the sour hard candies Mabel knew she liked and handed back to her. The two talked and laughed, Mabel’s mouth full of chocolate the whole time.

“So do rowdy teens, like, love trick-or-treating and are obsessed with candy?” Pacifica asked.

“Well, this one does!” Mabel replied, popping a handful of nerds into her mouth. “The others, not so much.”

Pacifica swung her legs idly above the still water. “That bites. Tonight was pretty fun.” Her smile became a little shy and she changed the subject. “So rowdy teens hang out at graveyards and docks?”

Mabel nodded. “Yep, excellent places for makeout sessions.” Her cheeks heat up immediately after the words left her mouth. Pacifica hadn’t said anything about relationships or sexualities since the night she slept over, and Mabel had followed suit, letting the subject of crushes and kisses become somewhat taboo between the two of them.

Pacifica instantly went motionless, caught off guard. But after a moment when she spoke, she sounded amused. “So have you used the docks for ‘makeout sessions’?”

Mabel laughed nervously. “Uh, yeah. Once or twice.” She looked out at the water. “I even had my first kiss here,” Pacifica glanced over, looking interested. “Yep,” Mabel began unwrapping a off-brand peanut butter cup. She knew it wasn’t going to be as good as a Reese’s but she had learned her lesson in rejecting loser candy. “With a mermaid.”

Pacifica spluttered. “Yeah right!”

“No! It’s totally true!” Mabel retorted. “His name was Mermando! He was so dreamy Pacifica, he was twelve. And I was twelve.” She sighed wistfully, chin resting in her hands. “It was the heat of summer, we had met at the pool. I was young, inexperienced, looking for love. He was sensitive and mature, with a handsome mustache and lonely eyes and a silky spanish accent. I helped him find his family and in return…” Mabel’s eyes fluttered shut. “He helped me find an epic summer romance.”

Mabel’s eyes snapped opened when she noticed Pacifica next to her, doubled over, red-faced and shaking horribly. She was laughing so hard it only came out in sharp gasps for air and snorts.

“Shut _up,_ Pacifica!” Mabel cried, face feeling incredibly hot and shoving her friend hard on the shoulder. “You’re just jealous!”

Pacifica took another deep inhale, looking up at Mabel with eyes damp with tears. “Why? Because I-I never-” she bit her lip hard to stop from laughing again. “Kissed a twelve year old fish who had-” she shrieked with laughter, falling back onto the dock and kicking her feet, “Mustache Hair!” she cried breathless, full of mirth.

Mabel rolled her eyes, grinning despite herself. Pacifica was too adorable for her own good.

When Pacifica calmed down, sitting back up and wiping at her eyes she asked, “And the other kisses?” It sounded falsely casual, Mabel though it seemed a little like Pacifica was pushing herself to try and have this conversation.

Mabel shrugged. “Just some failed summer romances.”

Pacifica became immensely interested with staring at her own nails, perfectly manicured in bright orange for the night. “With boys….or?”

“Uh,” Mabel felt awkward. “Not all of them. No.”

“Mm.” Pacifica nodded, eyes still on her own hands, folded idly in her lap, always defaulting to what Mabel had dubbed as Pacifica’s ‘Princess Posture when uncomfortable’. “Maybe someday I’d bring a girl here, then. It’s a nice spot.” She was so quiet it was hard to hear.

But Mabel had heard her, and felt a thrill of excitement. It sounded like Pacifica was finally ready to talk about this. “So you could see yourself being with a girl?” she asked calmly, trying her best to be less Mabel about this and not just yell excitedly. 

Pacifica groaned, leaning back and pulling up her knees. “No!” she grumbled, “But I really wish I could. It’s hard to visualize.”

“I can’t really relate to that,” Mabel admitted, pointing at her head. “This brain’s a non-stop romantic fantasy machine.” Pacifica gave a little amused snort. “But a girl in my GSA said something like that, when she first realized she was gay it was hard to think of the future,” Mabel mused. “We really don’t have any examples or role models and it’s hard to think of what to expect, but she said that went away after she dived into the community a bit. She was a lesbian too.”

“You think I’m a lesbian?”

Shit.

“Sorry, sorry! I shouldn’t assume, you’ve just never talked about guys before and I’m sorry it’s such a broad spectrum but the way you were taking that day just made it sound like-”

“Nah,” Pacifica laid down on the docks, looking up that the stars. “I think so too.”

Mabel looked down at her chocolate fingers and stamped the impulse to wipe them on her costume, flooded with relief that she hadn’t upset her friend. She joined her, leaning back as well. “How are you feeling about it?”

Pacifica scrunched up her nose. “You sound like a therapist.”

Mabel grinned, propping herself up on her elbow, laying to face Pacifica. “Come on, now, tell Dr. Pines all about your woes.”

Pacifica smiled. “I just feel like, really weird. Super awkward. And sad. And scared.” She turned to face Mabel. “And so, so grateful,”

“Grateful?” Mabel repeated, interested.

“Mhm,” Pacifica nodded, eyes shining. “That I have a friend like you to talk to and support me.”

Mabel felt flushed, looking at light freckles dashed across Pacifica’s nose. She had never seen them before. They had never been so close before. She could feel Pacifica’s warm breath against her face and her heart skipped a beat. She could feel Pacifica’s eyes staring sharply into her, but her eyes were transfixed on those freckles.

And something was suddenly so obvious Mabel wondered how she had been missing it the entire time.

“Pacifica!” She cried, suddenly swinging up and causing her friend to give a little jump and turn bright red. “I know just what is gonna help you through all this!”

Pacifica blinked, sitting up and pushing her hair over her shoulder. She looked so lost and confused. But Mabel knew what was going to cure all of this.

“You need a pig!”

Pacifica raised an eyebrow. “I need a pig?” she repeated.

“Peggy Freckles! You should adopt Peggy Freckles!”

“I…?”

“It’s the perfect solution! You need a companion, and you love Peggy Freckles, and she’s sweet on you and you two should be together!”

Pacifica didn’t say anything, lips pressed together. She was staring hard at the docks. Mabel barely noticed, heart pounding with excitement at what might be the most brilliant idea ever. Finally Pacifica spoke, quietly mumbling. “Okay, Mabel.”

Mabel frowned. Something seemed off. This didn’t seem like the reaction of a person overjoyed at the possibility of owning an adorable piglet. Maybe she was worried about her parents?

“Do you think that your parents won’t let you or something?”

Pacifica shook her head. “We’ve got the room, as long as I keep it away from the expensive stuff I don’t think they’ll notice or care.” She didn’t look any less miserable.

“Pacifica, what-” Mabel stopped, feeling her phone vibrate in her pocket. She picked it up and saw it was her Grunkle, and she noted the time. It was getting late and he must be wondering where she was. She bit her lip. “I’m just going to call my Grunkle Stan and tell him I’m okay, and then we can keep talking.”

“No it’s okay,” Pacifica replied. “I should go home before my parents notice I’m not there.”

“Are you sure?” Mabel asked, looking up from her phone at Pacifica’s face. Pacifica nodded. “Are you okay?”

“I feel fine, Mabel. I think the, like, candy just gave me a stomach ache.” She smiled, and Mabel noticed she had reverted back to the princess posture.

Mabel stood up. Well, she figured she shouldn’t push Pacifica if she didn’t want to talk. “Do you want to talk about it?”

“I promise I’m fine, Mabel. I’m super excited about Peggy Freckles,” she smiled, and that at least sounded genuine. “You should bring her over sometime so she can get used to my manor.”

Mabel nodded. “That’s a great idea,” she hesitated. “Well, thanks for trick-or-treating with me.”

“Thanks for inviting me, I had a really nice time.” That sounded genuine too. But Pacifica still looked miserable.

They said their goodbyes, and Mabel began walking home, calling back her Grunkle to let him know she was on the way. She would glance back occasionally, and still see Pacifica in the distance, still sitting alone on the docks, and Mabel couldn’t fight the feeling that she was missing something.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i am sorry if i am torturing you friends


	9. Afterparty

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is the chapter i have been most excited for since I first started this like 2yrs ago. enjoy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Pacifica felt the weathered wood beneath her skin, lying down on the docks, glazed eyes staring up at the stars. She tried to focus on the smell of the forest, the sounds of the water lapping the wooden posts. Instead she just felt her face burning, heard their conversation on her head like a song left on repeat too long.

There was no other way she could frame the question.

_Why not me, Mabel?_

She had a new crush every damn week, and Pacifica had to sit through hearing each and every one of them. Mabel found 90% of the population attractive, to the point where Pacifica wasn’t even sure the girl had standards. And yet… _Why not her?_

Pacifica wasn’t ugly, Pacifica wasn’t undesirable. She had a good fashion sense, she was always giving the Pines twins things they wanted. She was fun to be around, people liked her. She had a good taste in makeup and the two girls had a few overlapping interest and they got along fine. So… _Why not?_

She didn’t even have the excuse left that Mabel didn’t like girls. Mabel was pansexual. Mabel had told her that at the start of summer, confirming Pacifica’s suspicion, and opened all the floodgates to this whole mess. No longer could Pacifica pretend she was just jealous of Mabel’s crushes because they caused her friend to ignore her. Pacifica had to admit it, she was jealous that Mabel didn’t like her. She wanted Mabel to like girls. She wanted Mabel to want her. And the second she found out she did, all hope was lost of Pacifica lying to herself about _why_ she was so jealous.

Pacifica should have been happy for her friend, but instead she had just shut down in the moment. All she could think was, if Mabel liked anyone she deemed cute- _why not Pacifica?_

And she had finally bit the bullet and admitted to Mabel she liked girls too. Shouldn’t that have made her at least someone worth considering having a crush on? Apparently not, judging by the way Mabel seemed to have no interest in all at her. _Why???_

“Maybe it’s because you’re such a selfish brat,” Pacifica mused aloud, slowly sitting back up. Everything she wanted was usually at her fingertips, and maybe Mabel was too. But she didn’t want to reach out and take it. She couldn’t.

She was sick of being the instigator, sick of nannies and even her parents holding her because she reached her arms out first. She was sick of the girls who hung around her because someone asked them to. She was sick of being handed things because people were trying to please her, not because they genuinely wanted to do them. So she wasn’t being selfish, was she? She didn’t just want Mabel, she wanted to be the one Mabel wanted. She was…

...not sure what the hell she was even talking about anymore.

Pacifica rested her chin on her knees, mindlessly thumbing at her phone screen. She blamed Mabel for all this introspective crap. That girl got under her skin like nobody's business. 

“But I guess I just don’t, like, get under her’s,” Pacifica grumbled to herself aloud for the second time. Like a crazy person. Like a girl sitting alone by herself on some crappy old docks after all the magic of the evening had left. Wearing a silly costume. She felt ridiculous. She put down her phone and looked down at her distorted reflection in the dark water.

Frustration bubbled up in her gut, like it always did. And she had never learned to control it, so instead of taking a step back or taking a deep breath like she figured she was probably supposed to, she instead just balled up her hand into a fist and threw the plastic melon-lantern bucket; lashing out. Like she always did.

For a moment it was satisfying, seeing the bucket hit the water and the candy wrappers fly out of it to float on the now choppy surface. Then the water calmed. And she was still just a selfish brat wearing a stupid costume standing alone. All she had done was add red cheeks and balled up fists to her reflection’s image, looking like a child throwing a tantrum.

A child who had just littered.

_“Shit.”_

Nothing could have been a more impressive testimony of just how much she cared about Mabel than how Pacifica kneeled at the edge of the docks, rough, splintered wood scraping at her knees as she reached over the edge and frantically attempted to pick up the wrappers, a steady stream of _shit shit shit shit_ going through her mind and spilling out of her mouth. Pacifica had never been more glad in her life that no one was there to see it, especially after she made a poorly judged lunge for the plastic mellon-lantern and fell in.

About five minutes of screeching and flailing later, Pacifica clawed her way back onto the dock, panting with exertion and shivering from the cold, disgusting, mossy lake water. Pushing back her thoroughly soaked hair, she whipped around to see if anyone had dared to witness it. If they had, she would sue them. She would sue them until they had nothing to their name, including their name. She was going to sue this lake and this dock and Gravity Falls and mother nature herself and the big bang for creating her existence and the creators of Sailor Moon and she was going to sue the crap out of _“Mabel.”_

Somehow, the second the name past her lips she felt the hot anger in her gut die down a little. Thinking of Mabel calmed her down. Mabel probably would have laughed so hard to the point of her eyes stinging with tears, or attempted to cheer Pacifica up by jumping in the water herself. 

A thought briefly crossed her mind of going to see Mabel just to see her reaction, but then Pacifica decided seeing Mabel would just throw her into yet another of these pity-parties she kept throwing herself. Her next thought was to go home, but that was completely out of the question.

Pacifica crossed her arms over her chest, pacing both to help her think and as an attempt to stay warm. She tried to think of anywhere else she could go, but her mind kept turning back to Mabel every time.

So she decided to go for the next best thing.

*

The cabin reminded her of the Mystery Shack, but smaller and worse. It was made out of trees pressed together instead of wood paneling, and covered in moss. There was an RV in the unkempt yard that was rusting into nothingness and had saplings growing up out of the hood. Half the trees in the surrounding areas were reduced to stumps and there were axes, of all things, littered everywhere around the house, and about another dozen of them sitting in a bucket on the front porch. Pacifica found herself wondering, for about the millionth time in her life, how poor people managed to live like this.

Dipper opened the door soon after she knocked, and he had just about the same expression she did. Like staring into a bewildered brunnette mirror.

“What-” Is how he started. He seemed to change his mind and follow with “Why-” but that question wasn’t finished and instead he moved onto “How-”

Pacifica felt her cheeks heat up despite the fact she was shivering cold and she averted his gaze. “I told you on the phone I was going to come over.”

Dipper scratched at his nose, still staring her down. “Yeah, but…” his eyes stopped on her muddy orange heels. “You didn’t walk, did you?”

“It doesn't matter, Dipper.”

He pressed his lips together, but didn’t press the issue. Instead he looked at her still-dripping wet hair. “And...did it rain?”

Pacifica did her best to hold herself up. _”No.”_ She said it firmly, hoping it would send the message he wasn’t supposed to ask about that either.

Dipper nodded, still clearly at a loss for words. Pacifica cleared her throat because she didn’t know what to say either. Silence fell between the two, and the night air steadily grew colder as Pacifica pretended not to notice.

Finally, the twin managed to muster the confidence to ask the question that he had obviously been wondering since she called to ask where he was.

“What are you doing here, Pacifica?” 

It must have come off harsher than he meant because he quickly added, “I mean, I’m happy to hang out and Wendy doesn't mind but-” he paused. “I mean, I thought you were trick-or-treating with Mabel...so…?”

Pacifica didn’t even know the answer to that herself. Well, actually, she did. She just didn’t want to be alone and had acted on impulse, but she couldn’t admit that. Pretending she hadn’t heard him, Pacifica pulled on her wet hair and extensions to try and wring them out and cover how awkward she felt. Coming here had clearly been a mistake, she barely even knew Dipper. They weren’t friends. He was just the brother of a girl she hung out with sometimes. Before she could think of a way out of this awkward situation, the door was kicked open with a very slurred call of “Neeeeeoooorthhweeeuusstt!”

It was the freckles girl, dressed in a short, ripped, black dress and covered in fairly realistic and extremely disgusting fake wounds. Pacifica, so bent on not making eye contact earlier, now noticed for the first time that Dipper had some matching paper-mache and makeup injuries and some rips in the black button-down he was wearing.

Dipper looked at the incomer with a bemused expression. The girl laughed heavily, followed by chugging back the can in her hand, belched, and then tossed it somewhere behind her. She laughed again, and then suddenly her whole demeanor changed as she smirked and crossed her arms, leaning against her doorframe. 

“Just kidding, I’m not that drunk,” she told Pacifica, her voice sounding much more level and sober. Dipper rolled his eyes. She looked at Pacifica, and her eyebrows rose. “Northwest, what’d you do, jump in the lake?”

Pacifica blinked. “Of course not.”

There was a brief pause as the redhead expected an answer that Pacifica didn’t give. After a moment she gave up with a shrug. “Okay, well you look like a drowned cat.” She walked back into the house and beckoned for the two to follow her, “Come dry off!”

Dipper and Pacifica followed her back into the house, and Pacifica found herself being hit with another wave of disbelief as she saw the interior. It was small, cramped, disheveled and covered in flannel. Flannel curtains, couch, throw blankets draped over the counter and table. Honestly, what was even wrong with this hick town?

“The fam’s out camping tonight, so you can be as loud as you want,” her voice called from some side room followed by the sound of rummaging and suddenly reappeared with an armful of an old, patched, mostly flannel quilt that was thrust into Pacifica’s arms. “Here, I can’t find towels, but you can warm up with this.”

Pacifica ignored the musty smell of the blanket as she gratefully wrapped it around her dripping sailor scout uniform. “Thank you,-” she stopped, wracking her brains for this girl’s name.

“Wendy,” the girl replied, looking amused. “We’re just watching horror movies, if you want to join us.” She opened a door into a dimly-lit bedroom. Pacifica nodded, still feeling very thrown-off by everything and completely unsure of what to say.

She followed the two of them into the bedroom. Wendy shut the door behind her, fiddled with an ancient-looking tv on the dresser until some black and white and grainy movie scene started to play, a woman in a dress similar to Wendy’s screaming on the screen as zombies circled her. Wendy grabbed a bag of popcorn that had been set on the tv before she hopped up onto the bed, as Dipper grabbed an open can of pitt cola from the windowsill and joined her, the two lounging comfortably.

Pacifica shuffled awkwardly, unsure of where to sit. The room was small, and devoid of furniture except for the dresser, nightstand and bed. Horror movie posters decorated the wooden walls and and beat-up comic books and magazines littered the floor, and more flannel blankets and curtains decorated this part of the house as well. There was even what seemed to be a real, probably stolen, pedestrian crosswalk sign hanging by the window.

Dipper looked up at Pacifica still standing there, and patted at the side of the bed to invite her to climb in as well. Pacifica blanched. It was just big enough for the two of them, she didn’t need to be sandwiched next to two people she barely knew. She settled for just sitting on the edge, which still caused her and Dipper’s shoulders to touch. 

The horror movie loudly filled the room, but Pacifica still felt as if the awkward silence was lingering. She could only busy herself so much with taking off her muddy heels and hair extensions. After that she was just sitting there with two people who kept occasionally glancing over, obviously wondering why she was there, while she pretended not to notice.

“So…” It slipped out on impulse to break the conversational silence. Dipper and Wendy both turned toward her. Pacifica cleared her throat and straightened her posture, hoping to look less awkward and out of place. “I thought you were, like, uhm… going to a party or whatever?”

Dipper chuckled, scratching at the back of his neck and looked embarrassed. Wendy gave a lopsided sort of smile.

“I’m not really a ‘party’ guy,” Dipper admitted. “Uh...Sorry, Wendy.”

Wendy threw her arm around his shoulder and ruffled his hair. “Naahhh,” she scoffed. “I can go get drunk with trashy twenty-year-olds anytime I want on campus, I’d rather spend time with my tiny baby highschool friends while they’re still here.’

Dipper turned red and grumbled something that sounded like “not a baby,” and Pacifica smiled despite herself. Though the smile quickly left when Wendy said, “How was trick-or-treating with Thing Two?”

“Okay,” came her short reply. Pacifica didn’t want to think about anything that had just happened. Pacifica felt completely rejected, and by someone who hadn’t even considered Pacifica enough of a possibility to even notice she was rejecting Pacifica.

Wendy gave her an amused look. “Sounds totally thrilling.”

“I mean, trick-or-treatings, like, pretty childish,” she added, hoping that would just drop the subject. Wendy gave a shrug and turned back to the movie. After a pause, Wendy hopped off the bed and stopped the movie.

“I gotta pee, dudes,” she informed them. “Don’t unpause it or you’ll get a lifetime ban from the Corduroy Cabin of Dreams and Shitty Horror Movies.” She winked at Dipper and added, “That includes you too, Thing One,” before she shut the bedroom door behind her. 

Dipper didn’t say anything. Pacifica looked at him, his eyes fixed on the now still tv. But in a glazed over way, like he wasn’t really watching. Feeling completely out of place again, Pacifica pulled up her still-damp, but at least no longer cold, legs to her chest and bundled the quilt around herself so he wouldn’t notice how she was curling in on herself.

Dipper glanced at the door, then back at the movie. “Mabel really likes hanging out with you,” he murmured, not looking up. “I mean, she was really looking forward tonight.” Something about his tone sounded angry, and it pierced right into Pacifica. Now the other Pine wanted nothing to do with her either?

“Yep,” Pacifica replied, keeping her voice flat. “I’m aware, Dipper.” She wondered where his sudden change in attitude was coming from. He had been perfectly friendly when they played “Stack Erasers on Sleeping Mabel” earlier that day. He had also been nice enough, if not confused, when she had first shown up.

Dipper turned to her. Feeling silly wrapped up in the blanket, Pacifica dropped it and sat up straight. “So I hoped you at least tried to have fun with her,” he said it like a warning.

Pacifica felt ashamed, thinking of how she had gotten so mopey at the end of the night and had basically told Mabel to get lost, leaving Mabel wondering what she had even done wrong in the first place. Then Pacifica did what she always did; get tired of feeling like everything was her fault, and get nasty instead.

“Well, _Dipper,_ I can’t help it if the things she wants to do are stupid,” Pacifica snapped. “I may have been in a number of prestigious productions at the Oregon Academy for Gifted Girls, but even I’m not _that_ good of an actor.” 

Dipper’s eyes narrowed, mouth opening to retort. Pacifica had no desire to hear what he wanted to say. “If you were that considered with her having a good time, maybe you should have gone with her?” She looked at the shut bedroom door. “I mean… instead of ruining someone else’s night?”

Dipper instantly looked horrified. Pacifica felt smug. She had touched a nerve. Well, good. Now they were even

“Pacifica,” he said slowly, clearly trying to hold back anger. “I didn’t ruin her night, okay? I mean… she knows about my anxi… she’s-” He paused, and Pacifica raised her eyebrows, patiently waiting for him to continue. “She said that I didn’t have to go, and she was the one who offered to do this instead-” Dipper shook his head. “No, this isn’t what we we’re talking about.”

“Nah, don’t, like, stop on my account,” Pacifica motioned her hand for him to keep going. “Keep up this denial stuff, it’s fun to watch.”

He dragged his hands over his face, taking a long deep breath. Pacifica found herself missing the twelve year old Dipper who would have gotten flustered and retaliated by yelling at her. Since when did he become a boring pacifist like his sister?

“I don’t know why you’re being so... obnoxious,” it seemed as though he had to use a lot restraint to use that adjective instead of another. ”I’m just saying, Mabel really, _really_ cares about spending time with you, and you mean a _lot_ to her…” he paused, suddenly looking nervous, as if he had said something he shouldn’t. “As a friend, of course,” he quickly added before continuing, “So maybe you shouldn’t be so…” he paused again. “Obnoxious. About the things she wants to do.”

Pacifica didn’t have a response. He had stopped making it fun. Dipper took her silence as an opportunity to add, “You just… you mean the world to her, okay?” alongside a heavy punch of guilt straight to her gut. “As a friend,” he quickly added again. Pacifica felt sick. “And I know what it’s like to care so much about someone, and have them not care the same way back. As friends. And it sucks.” Another blow to her stomach.

“As a friend, I mean.”

And that was the last straw.

_“I KNOW YOU MEAN AS HER FUCKING FRIEND, OKAY?!”_ She was on her feet before she knew it. “What else would it even be as?!” Now she was laughing, hysterically.

And then she was crying. 

“Woah, woah woah, I’m sorry!” Dipper stood up on the bed too, wrapping his arms around her. She flinched. “Woah, come on,” he added. She couldn’t bring herself to hug him back. Instead she just stood there, stiff as a board, hiccuping sobs against his shoulder.

“Pacifica, I’m sorry...I… What brought this on?” Dipper asked. “I mean- woah. What’s happening?”

She shook her head, eyes scrunched tight and mouth shut to fight back the wailing. “No seriously, what-”

She was saved having to answer as a voice called from outside the room, “Look I know I said was peeing, and that it took ten minutes, and the bathroom stinks. But I promise I was peeing, because as I once told you, girls don’t have butts-” the door opened and Wendy stopped herself mid-sentence. “What the hell…?”

“I don’t know,” Dipper told her as Pacifica’s shoulders continued to heave. “We kind of argued? And she started crying.”

Pacifica tried to say something to get them to stop worrying about her, but the second she opened her mouth she started crying even harder. ‘What did you _do_ , Dipper?!” Wendy asked, shutting the door and clambering up onto the bed as well. 

“I don’t know, I don’t know!” Dipper exclaimed, letting go of her and really starting to panic. “I wasn’t trying to hurt her feelings, I swear, I just got pissed because I know Mabel was looking forward to tonight and-” Pacifica let out another loud wail at that. “Agh!! I’m sorry, Pacifica!”

Wendy gripped her firmly on the shoulder, speaking over Dipper’s nervous rambling. “Come on, dude. Sit down.” Pacifica nodded, sitting down on the edge of the bed with Wendy and burying her head in her hands, feeling a fresh wave of embarrassment wash over her. “Nope,” Wendy gently tugged on her wrist. “Sit up straight. Deep breathes.”

Pacifica nodded, tears still streaming down her face but making an effort now to calm her breathing. Dipper sat on the other side of her and put his arm around her.

“I’m sorry, Pacifica, I really don’t know what…” he trailed off.

She shook her head. “It’s not you, Dipper,” she mumbled, voice hoarse.

“Does it having something do with what happened with Mabel?” Dipper asked.

Pacifica nodded.

“Did she uh…” Wendy bit back a grin. “Push you in the lake?”

Pacifica narrowed her eyes at the girl, which probably wasn’t as threatening as she would have liked it to be. What with the being red and puffy from crying and tears still leaking out of them and all.

“Did she do something?” Dipper asked.

Pacifica took a deep breath. “It’s more like...something she didn’t do?”

“Help pull you out of the lake?”

Dipper snorted while Wendy tried her best to cover her laughter. Pacifica rolled her eyes.

“Okay, okay… I’m sorry…” Wendy chuckled. “What didn’t she do?” Pacifica supposed there was no backing out of this now. She was going to have to be, like, honest. With her feelings. And Stuff. Ew.

She ran her hand through her hair and shut her eyes, giving herself a long moment to breath and ready herself before she opened them again. And then she put it out there. In the open. Finally. For everyone, and for herself.

“She didn’t kiss me.”

The tears burned at her eyes again and she dug her palms into them, hating herself. 

No one said anything, and after giving herself a moment, she took her hands off her face and tried to gauge the other’s reactions. Both seemed to be confused, looking at her quizzical expressions. Pacifica felt annoyed, wishing they would knock it off. When the quiet was eventually broken, it was by Dipper.

“You…” He tilted his head to the side. “Wanted her to kiss you?”

Pacifica nodded. “It’s just…” she tried to think of how to explain it. “She has, like, all these stupid crushes all the time. And then she comes out or whatever. And I’m.” she wrapped her arms around herself, “Still not one of them.”

“So you’re just mad she doesn't have a crush on you?” Dipper took his arm off her and his voice became hard. “You’re what...offended? That just because she came out as pan she’s not suddenly fawning over you like all the other boys in town? That’s pretty fu-”

Wendy cut in before Pacifica got a chance to. “Calm down, dude.” Her voice was unusually soft. “I don’t think that’s what she’s saying.” The anger faded from Dipper’s eyes and was replaced with a look that clearly showed he was lost. “I think you're saying,” Wendy placed her hand gently on Pacifica’s leg, and she flinched a little at the contact. “That you like Mabel?”

She nodded. 

Dipper made an “Aroo?” noise accompanied by a head tilt of confusion that was eerily similar to the dog from that dumb 70s animated cartoon about mystery kids in a van Mabel had showed her. Pacifica couldn’t help but let herself stop moping for a second to chuckle.

Dipper jumped off the bed. “You like Mabel?!” He asked again. She nodded. “Pacifica, this solves everything!”

“No it doesn't!” she snapped. “What the heck would it solve?”

Dipper threw his arms up into the air. “Everything! All the problems and stuff going on between you two!” He started pacing. “Pacifica, you have to tell her!”

She flopped down onto her back, the old mattress frame giving out a squeak beneath her. “Ugggh, I can’t!”

“Can’t?” Wendy asked.

“I’m sick of it! Like, anytime I tell people what I want...they give it to me!”

“What a terrible problem to have,” Wendy grumbled. Pacifica could hear the sarcasm in her voice.

“It kind of is!” she retorted, sounding more defensive than she would have liked. “I’m always wondering if they ever even wanted to do it in the first place or whatever. I just, don’t want to ask anyone for anything. Not…” Pacifica sighed. “Not for things that matter.”

“So you're scared of reaching out?” Wendy mused, leaning back against her bedframe.

Pacifica looked up at the ceiling and nodded. “Basically.” She did her best to distract herself by looking at the amount of dust building up and the cobwebs in the corners.

“What about when you invited us to play mini-golf with you?” Dipper asked. “You made the first move then. And it worked out fine.”

“No, you offered to hang out first,” Pacifica corrected. “That’s the only reason I offered.” She narrowed her eyes. One of the cobwebs seemed to still be in use. Was that a live spider? In someone’s _house_? She frowned, and then sat back up to look at Dipper. “That’s the only reason I didn’t offer sooner,” she admitted with a sigh.

He seemed taken aback. “You wanted to hang out sooner?”

Pacifica felt her cheeks heat up. “Whatever,” was all she had to say. 

“What’s the worst thing that’ll happen if you tell her?” Wendy asked. “Dude, she’s Mabel. She’s not gonna let things get awkward if she dosen’t feel the same way.”

Pacifica frowned. “She told me about what happened with Gideon, what if it’s like that? She’s gonna feel too guilty to say no, and so-”

“She was twelve, Pacifica.” Dipper cut in. “She’s grown up since, she’s got more confidence than that now.”

“Well what if she says no?!” Pacifica exclaimed.

Wendy poked her on the arm. “So what if she does?”

Pacifica flopped down again. “It would break me,” she told them gravely. She could see Wendy rolling her eyes in her peripheral vision. She didn’t care if it sounded melodramatic. It was true.

Dipper sat down on the edge of the bed too. “I know it feels that way, but I promise it won’t.”

“Yeah, Northwest,” Wendy chimed in. “No offense, but you’re letting your worries get the better of you.”

“And trust me we know all about that,” Dipper added. “You’re talking to Mr. Social Anxiety Disorder over here.”

“And Ms. Generalized Anxiety Disorder as well as the Chronic Emotional Suppression Queen.”

The two of them high-fived.

Pacifica bit at the inside of her cheek and hated them for making it sound so easy. “How about this, Pacifica?” Dipper prompted, and she turned to look at him. “How about you go and confess to Mabel,” she wrinkled her nose at him. He wagged a finger at her. “Let me finish! You confess, and if it doesn't go well, you get to just give up on ever making yourself vulnerable or being honest ever again and go back to being a cold, hard, asshole, ice-queen.”

Pacifica mulled it over. “Okay,” she decided. “I like the sound of that.”

“Dipper!” Wendy exclaimed. “What the shit?! That’s bogus advice!” Dipper shook his head. He looked at Pacifica with a hesitant look, then leaned over and whispered something in Wendy’s ear.

“What?” Pacifica asked, greatly annoyed at the two of them. Dipper finished and scooted back to where he had been sitting on the bed and Wendy took a moment to digest whatever he had told her. Then she faced palmed. Hard. With a slap that echoed in the little room.

“What?!” Pacifica shrieked, sitting back up.

“Y’all are stupid teenage babies!” Wendy retorted, giving Pacifica little kick with her foot. “That’s all I have to say!”

“Leave me out of this,” Dipper grumbled. “I’m not the one who made this way more complicated than it needed to be.”

“You are right now!” Wendy snapped, this time giving him a little kick. “You could just tell her what you told me and put an end to this whole… whole…” Wendy struggled to find the right word. “This whole summer romance teen drama fest!”

“Nah,” Dipper shook his head. “This is something she needs to learn to do for herself.”

“Holy cow!” Pacifica waved her arms to see if they’d even notice. “I’m, like, sitting right freaking here you guys!”

“You’re right, Dipper.” Wendy gave him a nod before finally acknowledging the other girl. “Alright, Pacifica,” she began. “So if you confess and it goes well, you’re gonna start working on stopping this ‘being snippy as a defense mechanism’ thing and start being more honest with people, alright?”

Pacifica crossed her arms. “Gross. Fine. Whatever.”

“Okay, good!” Wendy bounced off the bed. “Now if this dumb teenage baby miscommunication drama is over, then we’re going back to watch some good ol’ spooky garbage.”

Pacifica watched her fiddle with the tv and mused over what had just happened. They had certainly calmed her down, but she didn’t feel that much better. They were making it sound so easy, but she was doubtful anything was going to change. Not for the better, at least. Pacifica tucker her hair behind her ear. She supposed, it was really nice of them to try, at least.

“Hey, Dipper?” she said softly, scooting over so Wendy could get back onto the bed.

“Yep?” He asked, looking away from the screen.

“Sssh!” Wendy hissed from where she had settled on her side of the mattress. 

Pacifica lowered her voice to a whisper. “I’m sorry I was being such a jerk earlier.” She felt her cheeks heat up and some more shame well up in her gut. “You didn’t deserve all that.”

Dipper gave her a lopsided smile. “It’s okay, Pacifica,” he told her. “Because deep down, I know,” he put his hand on her shoulder, “you’re just a horrible person and you can’t help it.”

She aimed the hardest kick she could muster at his side. She did a pretty good job considering how awkward the angle was with the three of them squished together on the bed. Dipper was still laughing, so she kicked him again. But she couldn’t help but start laughing too.

Once the chuckles died down enough for her to talk, Pacifica decided to ask about something that had made her curious earlier. “Hey, Wendy?”

“Yeah, man?”

She felt a sly grin spread across her face. “So what was this you were saying earlier? About telling Dipper girls don’t have butts?”

Wendy snorted, popping a piece of popcorn into her mouth. “I told him that when he was twelve.” She tossed a kernel into the air and caught it, then swallowed. “And he believed it.”

The reaction was almost instant.

“NO I DIDN’T!” 

“You totally did!!!” Wendy shrieked with laughter, kicking her legs into the air. “You were all like, ‘Wh-what?! Really?!’, you were so gullible, dude!” Dipper turned red in the face. “It was awesome!”

Pacifica snorted. “Dipper, you have a sister! Surely you-?”

“Hah!” Wendy cried. “I forgot! That was the best part! I told him girls stopped pooping after puberty!”

Pacifica rounded on the boy who was now turning red and sweating profusely. “Why did you believe that?!”

“I-I…” He scratched at the back of his neck, averting his eyes. “It made sense…”

Wendy roared with laughter. “ _How_ did it make sense, Dipper?!” Pacifica demanded, genuinely starting to worry about how much his peasant education had affected him.

There was a long pause.

“...Because that's why girls got periods instead?”

A beat. And then, both girls were howling with laughter while Dipper turned even redder and began stammering nonsense. 

“And here I thought you were so smart!” Pacifica wheezed once she had returned to her senses enough to talk. Dipper said nothing, just rolled his eyes and threw a pillow at them. It hit Wendy dead in the face, but did nothing to stop her giggling.

Well, Pacifica thought. Even if she still wasn’t sure anything was going to change, at least the had learned something. Dipper was definitely more to Pacifica than just the brother of a girl she hung out with sometimes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> woof!!! so much happening lol. wendy lampshading my choices at the start of this fic that are annoying me now xD sigh. i keep telling myself to stop using miscommunication as a plot device. maybe this really will be the last time.
> 
> did u know i love dipper/pacifica friendship? and making them fight? xD i have a whole fanfic premise based around this that i wanna do. "Pacifica: is gay for Mabel and argues with Dipper, the fanfic." maybe someday!
> 
> ANYWAY!!!! thanks for sticking with me!!!! hope to have the next chapter soon. hope yall are still enjoying!


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